APC Considers Zoning Vice Presidency to S’East

As the All Progressives Congress (APC) continues to tinker with
astrategy to gain nationwide acceptance and triumph over the
rulingPeoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 general election, the
party may have decided to zone the vice presidency to the South-east
geopolitical zone, THISDAY has learnt.
Sources within the APC leadership informed THISDAY that contrary to
the widespread belief that it would zone the number twoslot to the
South-west, its target is the South-east, in order to break the
stranglehold the PDP has in the region as well as the South-south
zone.
They said the South-east is critical to the party as it moves to gain
nationwide spread and acceptability in the key geopolitical zones in
the country.
One party official explained that APC would rather zero in on the
South-east for the vice presidency because it is confident that it
already has the South-west and North-west, the zones that account for
the largest number of registered voters, in the kitty.
"Our strategy is to pair a northern Moslem candidate with a Christian
running mate from the South-east, as this will enable uscapture votes
from the north, South-east and parts of the South-south, which also
boasts Igbo-speaking indigenes.
"By zoning the vice presidency to the south east, we would also
behelping our brothers across the Niger (South-easterners)
actualisetheir quest for the presidency, as the vice-president is just
a heartbeat away from the president.
"Under the current zoning arrangement that the PDP is offering the
South-east, people from the zone would have a slimmer chanceof
capturing the presidency in the foreseeable future.
"But with the vice presidency in their grasp, their dream will be
easier to attain," the APC official explained.
Other APC sources also confided in THISDAY that President Goodluck
Jonathan and PDP might have got wind of the APC's zoning formula and
moved to scuttle it by putting pressure on the All Progressive Grand
Alliance (APGA) to disqualify a former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo,from contesting for APGA's
governorship ticket for the Anambra election.
"Had Prof. Soludo secured the APGA ticket, contested the governorship
election and won, it would have been difficult for the PDP to convince
him to return to its fold, given the way it has treated him.
"He would have been riped for the picking by APC and would havebeen a
formidable combination with whomever he is paired with.
"Soludo's emergence posed a serious threat to PDP, as he is popular,
cerebral and would have galvanised the South-east votes for APC. That
is why he was blocked," revealed one source.