2023: PDP Yet to Take a Decision on Zoning Presidency, Nwodo Insists

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

A former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Okweziliese Nwodo, has insisted that the main opposition party was yet to take decision on the zoning of the presidency ahead of the 2023 elections.

The PDP leadership had yesterday said its presidential ticket was open to all the six geopolitical zones of the country.

Deputy National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Abdullahi Ibrahim, had reportedly told Northern Advocate for Good Governance (NAFGG), that, “The new National Working Committee (NWC) under the leadership of Senator Iyorchia Ayu has already resolved this is exactly what it would pursue as an objective in ensuring that the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria were given equal opportunity to bid for the available offices to rescue and rebuild Nigeria.”

But, speaking on the Good Morning Show” on ARISE News Channel, yesterday, Nwodo insisted that the party had not taken decision on where it would zone its presidential ticket, saying what is happening at the moment is that every group that wishes to present a presidential candidate is making their case.

The PDP Chieftain recalled that during the Abacha regime, the constitution conference of 1995, which he was part of, proposed that there would be rotational presidency between the North and the South.
He added that the draft constitution proposed two vice president, stressing that if these provisions were not taken out when the 1999 constitution was drafted, there wouldn’t have been any need for doctrine of necessity, when former President Musa Yar’dua died, because the vice president from the zone that the president came from would have stepped in as a president.

Nwodo stated that, “As we speak now, the PDP has not taken a decision on where the president will come from with regards to our nomination. You will recall that when we did our last national convention, we zoned just for the party offices and we didn’t zone for the elective offices at the executive level.

“Now, we are still going to set up a zoning committee, when we get to that stage, we will look at the zoning. What is happening now is that every group that wishes to present a presidential candidate is making their case.”

Nwodo stressed that the constitution of the party stated that there should be zoning and rotation of political offices, adding that the opposition party, has obeyed it to a large extent,when PDP was formed.

He added that if rotational president had been captured in the constitution, the debate about zoning wouldn’t have come up, because it would have been a constitutional matter signed, sealed and delivered.

“I believe that the tradition that has been set in place, where we are all agreed that the presidency should take between the North and the South. The arguments that have been made now are being made by people who do not want to face the truth. Yes! We have a sitting President from the North, soon to complete 8 years.

“Is it fair that the north will continue for another eight years? Definitely not. Now, what happened when Umaru Yar’dua died was not contrived by anybody. It was not even in force by our constitution, that’s why we have to fall into the doctrine of necessity. But having done that since all that situation, we should continue with our North/South rotation of the presidency for unity, for fairness, for equity in our country.”