Daily Independent gath­ered that prominent lead­ers of APC have resolved to zone the position of national chairman to the North while the presidency will be zoned to the South, with many of them agreeing in principle that it will be unfair for the North to retain the position after President Buhari must have completed his eight years.

It was also learnt that many of the party leaders, es­pecially in the Northern bloc of the country, are favourably disposed to Osinbajo taking over from Buhari based on his loyalty, commitment and deep knowledge of the pro­grammes of the government, especially relating to the man­agement of the economy.

According to a credible source in the party, “There is no doubt Asiwaju is inter­ested in the 2023 presidential race. He has every right to do so and he is very qualified based on his record as a for­mer senator, governor of La­gos for eight years and what he has been able to achieve nationally even after leaving office.

“But for many of us, we believe that if the presidency is zoned to the South and lat­er micro-zoned to the South- West, the current vice presi­dent should be allowed to take over from the president. We have adduced so many rea­sons for this”.

“The first is that he has been tested before and he has proven that he has the exper­tise to manage the affairs of a diverse nation like Nigeria. We are all witnesses to what happened in 2017 when Pres­ident Buhari was ill and the vice president presided over the affairs of the nation in acting capacity.

“That was a period when Nigeria was almost at the precipice with many groups in the country, especially the proscribed Indigenous Peo­ples of Biafra (IPOB), seeking self-determination. He was able to manage the situation very well to the admiration of the whole country and even the president commended him upon his return to the country.