Nigeria’s Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has told the All Progressives Congress to respect the zoning agreement at the formation of the party for the 2023 elections.

Fashola’s statement is coming amidst reports that some APC members are plotting to thwart the arrangement for power shift between North and South, intending to retain the presidency in the North on the expiration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term.

“The truth is that what makes an agreement spectacular is the honour in which it is made not whether it is written,” Fashola said during a press meeting on Tuesday.

“If it was written, there would be no court cases of breach of contract because it is a document that is written and signed that go to court. But the private agreement you make with your brother and sister should not be breached, it must be honoured,” he added.

The APC was forged out of three main opposition parties and a faction of the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party in 2013, creating a platform that successfully wrested power at the ballot a year later with Buhari as its candidate.

The merger involved the Action Congress of Nigeria, led by Nigeria’s former anti-corruption chief Nuhu Ribadu, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), headed by Buhari, as well as the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) and All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).

The parties said they had formed the APC because the need for radical change had never been more urgent.

However, the party structure is already being faced with concerns of the which zone will produce the party flagbearer for 2023 presidential election.