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A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress and former Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu, has said the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, and not APC National Chairman, Dr. Umar Ganduje, should be blamed for the latter’s recent “No Vacancy in Aso Rock” remark.
Speaking with journalists on Thursday, Okechukwu argued that the PDP’s decision to disregard the rotation principle governing Nigeria’s Fourth Republic was responsible for the party’s current challenges.
“Those blaming Dr. Umar Ganduje, Chairman of the APC, for saying that there is no vacancy at Aso Villa should blame His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar,” he said.
According to him, the PDP’s “erroneous breach” of the zoning convention had fractured the party beyond repair, adding, “It has albeit produced ‘Wike Masquerade,’ which cannot be easily wiped off the party’s bone marrow.”
He maintained that the PDP might struggle to function effectively as Nigeria’s leading opposition party and could ultimately play a secondary role in a merger, similar to how the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria was absorbed into the APC.
He said, “The erroneous breach of the rotation convention, a ligament holding our fledgling democracy together in the 2023 presidential election, is the PDP’s biggest miscalculation.
“The rotation fire is raging and may not be quenched before 2027. The ugly outcome scenario sounds like the local clincher of the advisory song of the birds to the Reverend Father during Mass, that the big men seated in the altar front row are all of the same character.”
Reacting to claims that economic hardship was fueling opposition to President Bola Tinubu’s second-term bid, Okechukwu insisted that the situation would improve before the 2027 election.
According to him, “Some of Mr. President’s economic policies will start bearing positive fruits, and he has prepared grounds for Foreign Direct Investments.”
“The truism is that President Tinubu has done well diplomatically; he is a friend of the West and a friend of the East. This means he has the support of the international community to cushion the rough economic edges with Foreign Direct Investments and loan-backed projects,” he added.
