A group within the All Progressives Congress, the Progressives Mandate Movement, has rejected moves by some elements within the party to zone the national chairmanship of the party to the North-Central zone of the country.
Rather, members of the group say they are going to mount pressure on the leadership of the party to cede the presidential ticket of the party to the zone in the 2023 general elections.
This was made known by its national coordinator, Donald Oota, while addressing the media in Abuja on Saturday.
Oota said the North Central zone remains the only region in the North that is yet to produce either the president or the vice president since 1999.
He stated that having produced at various times the national chairmen in the past for various ruling parties, the position is no longer attractive to the people of the zone.
He listed past occupants of the post from the region to include late Soloman Lar, Banabas Gemade, Audu Ogbe and Ahmadu Ali.
The APC chieftain enjoined politicians in the region to put the interest of the zone above personal ambition by rejecting the position of the national chairman.
The group also advised former governor of Benue, George Akume; and that of Nasarawa State, Tanko Almakura, to stop jostling for the national chairman position and join forces with others to clinch the presidency for the zone.
It said, “We are charging our leaders to unite with one another in the onerous task of securing the president to the region.
“I call on all parties to look elsewhere for the position of national chairmanship and not North Central zone. We are not interested. After producing three to four national chairmen in the zone, what else do we do with that position?”