Vice Chairman of the South West Agenda (SWAGA), Senator Adesoji Akanbi claimed there was a gentleman’s agreement between the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) that the Southern arm of the latter would produce President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor during the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2014.
Senator Akanbi, stated this on Wednesday while speaking with The Nation in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
SWAGA Vice Chairman who claimed that the pact was not documented in black and white said the agreement still subsists and that members of both blocs are aware of its validity.
According to him, the gentlemen agreement was reached in 2014 when Buhari was the CPC leader and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was the ACN leader.
Akanbi, who represented Oyo South Senatorial District between 2015 and 2019, said leaders of both blocs, which were the major collaborators in the APC’s formation, had the gentleman’s agreement.
The former lawmaker explained that the reasoning behind the agreement was that such rotation, which would allow the Southwest to produce the next President, would keep Nigeria united.
“There was a gentleman’s agreement, though not written, between the then CPC and ACN on rotational presidency. The thinking was that it would help keep Nigeria as one indivisible entity. We believe that the ACN had sacrificed a lot for the formation of the APC, therefore, Southern Nigeria should produce the next President.”