You Wouldn’t Have Been VP Without Zoning” — Okechukwu Blasts Atiku

According to Ireporter Online, a founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu, has strongly criticised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his recent remarks describing zoning as “self-defeating,” insisting that the former PDP presidential candidate benefited immensely from the same arrangement he now appears to oppose.

Okechukwu, a former Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), argued in a statement released on Tuesday that Atiku’s position amounts to self-denial, stressing that zoning has historically played a key role in promoting unity, fairness, and political stability in Nigeria.

He questioned Atiku’s stance, stating that the former vice president would not have attained his position without the zoning structure that shaped Nigeria’s political balance. He further asked how a major beneficiary of the system could now dismiss its importance in fostering inclusion, equity, and justice.

Okechukwu also referenced Atiku’s past political decisions, recalling his exit from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential race in 2014 after President Goodluck Jonathan emerged as the party’s candidate, a move that led him to join the APC.

Reacting to Atiku’s recent comments questioning the political feasibility of a Southern opposition candidate defeating a sitting Southern president, Okechukwu described the statement as an unfortunate embrace of identity politics, adding that such rhetoric undermines the very principle zoning was designed to reduce.

He further faulted Atiku’s argument on the rotation of presidential power since 1999, describing it as selective memory. According to him, the discussion ignores Nigeria’s broader historical context, noting that the North had dominated leadership positions for more than four decades since independence.

Okechukwu maintained that equity cannot be selectively interpreted or reduced to convenient statistics, insisting that fairness in national leadership must be viewed within the full scope of Nigeria’s political history.