Comrade Timi Frank, Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), , has attacked a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Shina Peller, over utterances against former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on zoning
He described Peller’s comments as unfortunate and irresponsible.
Frank in statement on Tuesday, insisted that Peller’s statement was illogical, disrespectful and an attempt to stand logic on its head.
Frank who is the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), Ambassador to East Africa and Middle East, berated Peller as a greenhorn in politics who clearly is mistaking “club and bar business” for politics.
He stressed that politicians, especially those with vested interest ahead of the 2023 general elections, must not only show capacity and competence, but also be ready to compete with the best of Nigerians irrespective of the zone and party they come from.
Hon. Shina Peller, a current member of the House of Representatives had labelled Atiku as an enemy of Nigeria following the latter’s views on zoning and insistence to contest the 2023 presidential election.
According to Peller, “Going by his recent utterances, Alhaji Atiku has just proven to us again that he is one of the typical Nigerian politicians who is ever ready to manipulate the people, twist the fact and mislead people to satisfy their political interest even if it means at the detriment of unity, peace and progress of our dear country.”
Comrade Frank, said contrary to Peller’s jaundiced and watery opinion, the former Vice President is right since there is nothing in Nigerian Constitution that bars him from exercising his right to contest elections.
He therefore called on all politicians to rather sell their manifesto, show competence and capacity to lead the country rather than hiding under the selfish toga of zoning to gain undue and unmerited political advantage.
“Peller is a known friend of mine. It is unfortunate that he descended so low in insulting the former Vice President. For the records, Peller is just a novice in politics and so lacks depth in Nigerian politics to begin to cast stones.
“Secondly, the likes of Peller only hide under the guise of zoning to deceive the Nigerian people – especially Southerners – just to have easy access to public office.
“Have Southerners not been in charge of the country before now? What was their impact on average Southerners? What did the average Southerner benefit in terms of infrastructure, leadership and empowerment? Should we continue to market zones at the expense of experience, competence and capacity?” Frank queried.
The Bayelsa-born political activist said democracy like politics is an open competition and thus all who aspire to partake in it must come fully prepared – showcasing their capacity and drive to serve the Nigerian people irrespective of where they come from – as there is nothing like a Southern or Northern president but rather a Nigerian president.
“Agreed that issues related to zoning between the North and South are playing out across all political parties as anticipated, however, to resort to threats and insults is not only anti-democratic but clearly outlandish in dealing with this issue.
“The future of our country must always be made pivotal. In achieving this, insults and threats as employed by Peller should never to be allowed.
“Rather, we should prioritise consultation, dialogue and understanding capable of inspiring the younger generation and make them believe in future practicable means of resolving issues like zoning, whenever they arise,” Frank said.
