A member of the House of Representatives from Ogun state, Rep Kolawole Lawal, has advice political leaders in the country to shelve the idea of zoning political offices ahead of the 2023 general is election, saying it will not give Nigerians the desired result. Speaking at a media forum organized by the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Abuja chapter, Lawal who represents Yewa South/Ipokia Federal Constituency of Ogun State said the issue of zoning was not a constitutional matter.
He said Nigerians across political divide have not been sincere with the issue of zoning so far, adding that if Nigerians had been sincere with it, there is a particular reference in the Constitution that would have clearly taken care of it. He said since Nigerians are not sincere with the issue of zoning and that it is not well backed by law, it cannot be proudly fought for. He said: “What I have always said on zoning is that we have zoning at the convention. It is like it is almost becoming a tradition. But it is not a constitutional matter; either in the 1999 constitution amended or the active constitution.
“If there is sincerity in the issue of zoning, nobody would come out today from the Northern part of Nigeria to say they want to contest the 2023 presidential election of Nigeria. Even the PDP that started it, I am not sure it is in their constitution. If it is required in their constitution, like today now, Atiku will not be waiting to contest. In fact, yesterday he was in Ogun State, where he said he was going to come out soon. That is why I said there is no sincerity with the issue of zoning, and it is not on solid foundation, and therefore, not sacrosanct, even by those who say that they are practicing it.
“But, because we have not implemented the issues around federal character very well, that is why people are still talking about revolution. That is why people are still talking about zoning. I have said it severally that in this country, we have enough laws that if well implemented, Nigeria will be better off. We do not need new laws; we can be doing some amendments but we have all the laws that we need. But because of bad or poor implementation, that is why we are having agitation all over the place.
“The Federal Character Commission is established to look at the issues around the fact that everybody must be represented in all that we do. There would not be problems with the issue of zoning if we are we observing the federal character principle. Normally, there should be a level playing ground for everybody so that we can have good candidates that can take Nigeria to where we want it to be. Somebody that is strong enough to handle Nigeria the way it should be handled.”