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The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), on Tuesday, warned
the Northern Political Forum (NPF), not to drag its presidential candidate,
Muhammadu Buhari, into the raging internal crisis in the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) over the zoning of positions.

A member of the NPF, Yahaya Kwande, had reportedly described Mr
Buhari as a selfish man for allegedly opposing the zoning arrangement in the
PDP.

Spokesman of the CPC, Dennis Aghanya, told journalists in Abuja,
said the party is not comfortable with the statement credited to Mr Kwande,
saying since the former military ruler is not a member of the PDP, he should be
left out of zoning debate in the ruling party. “The CPC is not very comfortable
with the statement credited to one of our elder statesmen and a member of the
Northern Political Forum, Ambassador Yahaya Kwande, that some northerners like
the former head of state, Gen.

Muhammadu Buhari, who did not support zoning were selfish, and
that many of them had forgotten that they need the support of the north for
their political aspirations,” Mr Aghanya said. “CPC, has made it very clear
that we don’t believe in the principle of zoning because it is against the
tenets of democracy.

“Some of the self-styled leaders of the PDP of the northern
extraction have continued to call our leader names simply because he has
refused to involve himself in issues that do not concern him and his party.”

Worried party

The CPC spokesman wondered why northern politicians keep blaming
Mr Buhari instead of encouraging him to realize his ambition of returning to
power since he is also a northerner.

He also stated that Mr Buhari has suffered a lot of injustice
and wondered why he should not be left alone. “The CPC is worried because we
don’t understand why we cannot be left out of this matter,” he said. “Gen.
Buhari has suffered a lot of injustice in the hands of this same group of
people, same with his followers. Why would one subject himself to all sorts of
worries when he has a solution to his problem?”

Mr Aghanya also said that the CPC has offered itself as a genuine political
platform for anyone who feels uncomfortable with his party, adding that Mr
Buhari is the only one who has offered to run under the platform of the CPC
during the forthcoming 2011 presidential election.

He noted that top members of the PDP are reaping from what they sowed in the
past by attempting to diminish Mr Buhari’s influence in the polity. “Their game
has now backfired and they are now looking for innocent people to pull into
their struggle. For over 30 painful months they made Gen. Buhari and his
followers to pass through the rigours of court processes, seeking for justice
that never came.”