The immediate past national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Ifeatu Obi-Okoye, on Saturday said that the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA picked its presidential flag bearer from the North Central geopolitical zone because of its strategic position for 2019 general election.

APGA picked retired Major General John Gbor, who incidentally is from that area to fly its flag as the party’s presidential flag bearer next year.

Speaking in an interview in Awka, Anambra State, Obi-Okoye said that the current happenings in the zone are critical in the country’s polity.

He said the political scene in the Middle Belt, comprising Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa and Taraba states, is no longer about party politics, but about survival of the Middle Belt people who are threatened by the Fulani herdsmen.

Obi-Okoye said: “We chose our presidential candidate from the middle belt for very strategic reasons.

“There is something going on in the middle belt states today. In those states, we have very strong governorship candidates who are all Christians. The current happenings in the zone are critical in the country’s polity.

“The ordinary Middle Belt man believes that if they do not fight back, they will be wiped out.

“So we have fielded our presidential candidate from there, believing that we will be able to gather strong support in the middle belt because that geopolitical zone will determine next president of Nigeria.”

The ex-APGA Spokesman while predicting that the 2019 presidential election would not be won on the first ballot, stressed that in the event of APGA loss, that their win of the Middle Belt will put them at a vantage position saying that none of the two major parties for the election will win at the first ballot.

According to him, the circumstance would make his party (APGA) the determining force.

He added: “I make this permutation, not out of euphoria. NPP played same role when it controlled the area of the old Plateau and Gongola areas and NPN could not win the presidential election in the first ballot, neither could UPN, so it required the alliance of the NPN and NPP to form a government at the centre.

“What it means is that, APGA will be the party to determine who wins the presidential election between APC and PDP in 2019.”

He described as speculation rumours making the round that Gbor who is said to be a close acquaintance of Buhari was chosen by the party as an indirect move to support APC in the election.