A former Deputy Senate Majority Leader, Jonathan Zwingina, has reminded the South East that it dominated over 90 percent of the economy during the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan and no one complained.
Zwingina said this in an interview with Channels Television while insisting that the South East will not get the presidency on a platter of gold.
According to him, the region should not sit back and expect the political parties such as the All Progressives Congress, APC, to zone the country’s number one seat to them, but their elites must engage in discussion with the political elites from other zones.
The lawmakers pointed out that the South East was not the only region left to produce the president, insisting that while the region had even produced the country’s leaders once in its history, the North Central has not had the chance at all.
“I think the issue of zoning is understandable. But we must first of all look at the fact that the issue of zoning first arose during the military era and then the contest of the crisis of June 12.
“Now the way the zoning has been crafted, it is looking like it’s going to be almost by fiat. Zoning is a matter that should be discussed among political parties and arrive that within the consensus of political parties and not be forced or compelled on individuals or political personnel in government to enforce it.
“Even the party that championed zoning, which is the PDP has eventually in itself, virtually set it aside.
Not only the South East, the North Central has not had… even the South East has had the President the North Central did not have. Fairness and justice require that they too should have.
“Fairness and justice require that North East should have …although they had the prime minister, they too should have. I can tell you that fairness and justice is not just the South East.
“They’re talking about their rights but North Central has not had anything at all… what I’m saying is all the rights of people who want representation in government are valid. But we have to look at certain representations.
Under the administration of President Jonathan, the dominant zone in that government was the South East. They practically dominated ninety percent of the economy completely and people did not complain.
“It was their rights to do that because some of them were competent and were appointed into government positions …what the South-East should do is that their elites should engage in discussion with the elites from the other regions with the respect to the need for them to have a go at the presidency.
But even at that, there’s no President in Nigeria, even Obasanjo, who contested on the basis being left alone because he comes from a zone of preference. When Obasanjo contested, there were other people who were not from the South West who stood election with him.”