Sule Lamido, a former governor of Jigawa State, says he does not support zoning of political offices “because it has so far yielded no positive results.”
Mr Lamido, a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and presidential hopeful, served as foreign minister from 1999 to 2003.
His party believes in rotating the president of Nigeria between the north and south of the country, as well as allocating other key offices based on geopolitical zones.
That agreement, however, has been jeopardized since President Umaru Yar’adua’s death in 2010 and the selection of his vice president, Goodluck Jonathan, as PDP presidential candidate in 2011.
Speaking to BBC Hausa on Saturday as monitored by, Mr Lamido said zoning has been counter-productive.
“Even if they (PDP members) come and talk about zoning, I will tell them no. Because in these days of development, the world has passed the stage of zoning of political offices. What they discuss is how to progress. We should be discussing how best to build our people, how to ensure unity among our people. And I believe we can get that person from any part of the country, so we should not be talking of zoning now,” he said.
Mr Lamido said he has always been a national politician, hence, his decision to always support the best candidate.
“I don’t care whether such persons is a Muslim or Christian, a Hausa or Angas or Yoruba. If he is capable, bring him on. We should forget about this zoning issue because where has it taken us positively as a country?”
Mr Lamido and many other prominent politicians from the north, including former vice president Atiku Abubakar, former Senate president Bukola Saraki, former Kano governor Musa Kwankwaso, and Sokoto Governor Aminu Tambuwal, are believed to be interested in seeking the PDP presidential ticket in 2023.
