The National Publicity Secretary of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Osa Director, says the party has put measures in place to prevent aspirants from riding on Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso’s popularity to power.

The director made this known on Thursday in an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’.

According to him, unlike what happened in 2023, the opposition party will be thorough in the screening of aspirants.

“We have learnt from the incident of the past that happened in the Labour Party, and that was why, during our screening, we took particular special notice of the fact that a lot of people, especially people from the diaspora who have never participated in politics, rushed to get a form under the platform of the NDC. 

“As you have said, [they did so] probably to ride on the Obi-Kwankwaso wave and also because they see that the NDC is a vibrant alternative platform to the mess we’re having in the country today, and we are conscious of all that.

“Even during the screening, most of them were asked all those questions (about their vision and credentials), so they know. And if you are not on the ground. Who is going to vote for you,” the director asked.

Recall that Obi was the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, while Kwankwaso was the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, flagbearer in the election.

DAILY POST reports that in the buildup to that election, several aspirants, some relatively unknown, joined the LP and NNPP and even won. But months later, many of them dumped these parties for the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

However, the NDC spokesman said his party has learned from that.

“So, from that experience, the NDC has also told all the aspirants that it is not going to be business as usual. We are going to check your pedigree.

“If you don’t have a verifiable pedigree and commitment to the party, to the principles and values that the party is espousing, then you are not going to pick a ticket and fly the flag of the NDC. So, we are learning from the mistakes of the past,” he added.

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Osita Okechukwu on Thursday, said the emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, has raised serious concerns over the unforced error of elevating personal ambition above the zoning convention.

Okechukwu said since the advent of the Fourth Republic, zoning has largely guaranteed national cohesion, patriotism, fairness, and a sense of belonging among Nigerians.

He said it amounts to political opportunism for the ADC to disregard the zoning principle at a time when virtually all major political parties like APC, PDP, LP, NDC and a majority of Nigerians subscribe to rotational presidency in the overriding national interest.

In a statement he signed, the former Director General of the Voice of Nigeria, VON, said by its action, the ADC has “chosen to return Nigeria to the old and divisive North-versus-South political morass, which made Rotimi Amechi reject the offer of vice president.

He stressed that “Nigeria’s unity remains non-negotiable and that no individual’s political ambition should supersede national cohesion, as nobody can be president in a crisis-ridden country.”

Okechukwu further argued that with “Nigeria entangled in palpable insurgency, it is most patriotic and appropriate that all northern political gladiators except one are patiently waiting for 2031, the Northern turn under the existing rotational understanding.”

He expressed hope that the ADC leadership will not blame the APC and, by extension, President Tinubu when the majority of Nigerians vote against their unforced error of breaching the zoning convention, bearing in mind that their 2023 breach of the same principle significantly contributed to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s irretrievable and deep internal divisions till date.

Okechukwu maintained that history will ultimately judge the leaders of the ADC not by the intensity of their rhetoric and rationalisation but by their non-adherence to the zoning glue that contributes to national unity, institutional stability and democratic consolidation.

Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday night emerged as the flag bearer and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC.

The Returning Officer of the exercise, Tunde Ogbeha, announced the results on Wednesday in Abuja.

Atiku defeated former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen to become the party’s presidential candidate in next year’s general elections.

DAILY POST reports that the party had a total of 3,113,599 registered members, while it had the sum total of 2,527,977 vote cast.

The final results saw Atiku polling 1,846,370, Amaechi having 504,117, while Hayatu-Deen securing 177,120