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By Omoniyi Salaudeen
Things are no longer at ease in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as Iyorchia-Ayu-led National Working Committee (NWC) has finally boxed itself into a tight corner by the decision to throw the presidential ticket of the party for the 2023 general elections open to all aspirants from across the six geo-political zones of the country. 
Before now, there had been anxiety over which zone should produce the standard-bearer of the party for the presidential poll. Unlike the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the leadership has had to contend with the continuous struggle between the forces of change and those insisting that the North should take the slot. Now, with its decision to throw the presidential ticket open to all aspirants after a prolonged waiting game, Ayu’s team has inexorably murdered sleep.
Given regard to the informal arrangement for power rotation among the six geo-political zones as enshrined in its constitution at the inception of the present democratic dispensation in 1999, the South is expected to produce the candidate for the coming presidential race. Article 7 (2) (c) of the PDP Constitution clearly states: “In pursuance of the principle of equity, justice, and fairness, the party shall adhere to the policy of rotation and zoning of the party and public elective offices, and it shall be enforced by the appropriate executive committee at all levels.”
The gentleman’s arrangement was enshrined in its constitution to give each zone of the country a fair sense of belonging. The imperative of the inclusion of the agreement in the constitution by its founding fathers followed the prolonged political stalemate occasioned by the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election believed to have been won by the late Chief MKO Abiola by the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida.
As such, the party had to concede the exalted seat to the Southwest to appease the Yoruba for the perceived injustice, leading to the emergence of General Olusegun Obansanjo (rtd) as an elected president in 1999.
The rotational agreement, however, suffered a momentary setback following the demise of President Umar Yar’Adua and the subsequent ascension of Goodluck Jonathan to power. In 2015, the Northern opposition to Jonathan’s second-term ambition nailed the coffin, but was resurrected by the APC through the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari.
In keeping faith with the arrangement, power is expected to shift back to the South after the eight-year tenure of the Buhari administration. But due to the opposition of frontline contenders from the North, notably Atiku Abubakar, Aminu Tambuwal, Sule Lamido, Bala Muhammed, Bukola Saraki, the leadership set up a 37-man committee headed by the governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, to look into the merit of power rotation.
Prior to this time, when the issue originally came up for consideration in the party, preparatory to the coming election, it was the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, a perennial contender, who first kicked, insisting that the arrangement was unknown to the Nigerian constitution. While speaking at the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the PDP on October 7 last year, he maintained that the president of Nigeria could come from any region.
“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has the right to determine its rules and how the party should be governed. The people of Nigeria also have the right to determine who governs them.
“There is no such thing as a president from southern Nigeria or a president from northern Nigeria. There is only one — a president from Nigeria, for Nigeria, and by Nigerians.
“The decision of NEC today will either see us PDP in the Villa in 2023 or not. Since the inception, this party has faced serious challenges and has risen above sentiment to solve those challenges and move forward,” he declared.
Those who have been following successive events since then could smell the rat. And so, right from the onset, the initiative to set up a zoning committee has been dogged by controversy, as many party enthusiasts from the South view the motive with suspect. While the party leadership consistently debunked the speculation about the plot to concede the slot to the North, they believed that the decision by the party to set up a special committee to work out the zoning arrangement was diversionary, unnecessary, and a waste of time.
The cynics were right after all. The fear has finally come to pass. The 37-member zoning committee in its report to the National Working Committee of the party failed to zone the slot. And expectedly, emotions have been pouring in torrents for what most people consider a great blunder.
The President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, George Obiozor, in his official reaction to the matter, described the decision as an “unconscionable political blunder and betrayal” of the Igbo given the price they had paid supporting the party over the years.
A statement signed by the group’s National Publicity Secretary, Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia declared that “in its entirety, a political suicide has been committed by the PDP by its position on zoning.”
Already, there are three rival groups in contention for the party’s ticket.
Foremost of these is the Atiku camp which maintains the stand that the South has had more than its fair share of power-sharing in the PDP.
The group which has the support of Adamawa State governor, Ahmadu Fintiri and his Edo State counterpart, Godwin Obaseki, argued that of the 16 years of PDP’s rule, the North has served for only two years.
The second camp belongs to aspirants who are advocating consensus candidate.
They are former Senate President Bukola Saraki, Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, and his Sokoto State counterpart, Aminu Tambuwal.
In a bid to produce a consensus candidate, they have been crisscrossing the country, preaching unity ahead of the party’s primary slated for May 28. Recently, they met with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, who is being tipped as a running mate to whosoever emerges as candidate.
There is also the Wike-led group which is at the forefront of Southern agitators for power shift. This includes Enugu State governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, his counterpart in Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, and former governor of Benue State, Senator Gabriel Suswam. Some couple of days ago, the group was in Minna, the Niger State capital, to confer with former military President, Ibrahim Babangida and former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar on how to achieve power shift within the context of the extant arrangement.
With these three factions, Sunday Sun gathered, the party leadership is now divided over the decision to throw the ticket open to all aspirants.
For instance, Bode George, who is a member of the 37-man committee has declared that the committed did not agree on throwing the ticket open. He had said: “Zoning is sacrosanct and I can confirm to you that the committee in its report did not throw the ticket open. Observations were made as well as recommendations and they will be forwarded to the National Executive Committee for a final decision.
“Those saying the South has ruled longer than the North are only being clever by counting from 1999. They should count from 1960. If you are counting, you should start from number one and not number eight.”
His view was also corroborated by a former Minister of Transportation, Ebenezer Babtope, who accused the pro-consensus group of fronting for Atiku. In an interview with Sunday Sun, he said: “My friend, Bode George, is a member of the committee. As it is, PDP hasn’t got any position on that. We will wait for the party and the National Working Committee to take a final decision. As far as I am concerned, I am awaiting the final verdict of the NWC and the party.
“But we will not be guided by the decision of the APC to shift power to the South because I don’t believe in what they have said that they will shift power to the Southwest. They are just deceiving the whole world and time will prove us correct.
“I heard that Saraki and his group are saying that they want a consensus candidate. The PDP, Saraki, and Co are working to ensure that Atiku emerges as a candidate from the North. But Saraki and his group don’t own the party. We are waiting for the final decision of the NWC and the party.”
On his own part, Frank Kokori, while echoing the sentiment of a Southern candidate, declared that the argument by the PDP that the South had ruled more than the North was a stupid one.
He said: “The argument the PDP is putting up is a very stupid one. They are saying that Southerners have ruled more in PDP than the Northerners. What of 30-something years when the military was there? My stand is that Nigeria is multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and multi-cultural and we should all respect that. Atiku has been contesting elections for decades. He is a good man, but he should allow other people to contest. There must be some considerations and sacrifices to make the country move forward.”
Apart from the controversy as to which zone has the right to pick the ticket of the party, there are also some legal implications attached to the jettisoning of the zoning arrangement as contained in its constitution.
A renowned legal icon, Prof Itse Sagay, speaking with Sunday Sun on the future consequence of the disregard, said: “In my view, unless there is a statement in the constitution itself that it is not enforceable; it is enforceable in law. It is a contractual agreement between the party and all the members. So, to that extent, it is enforceable. By my understanding, it is binding on all the members unless there is a clause in their constitution that is not binding.
“In my view, given consideration to the constitution of the party and their discussions, it is clear to me that even in their own arrangement, it is the turn of the South to present a candidate from the South for the presidency. By overriding that condition and probably throwing the condition into the wind, they want to succumb to the more powerful Northern candidates.”
He, therefore, warned the leadership to be very careful in the way they handle the issue in the overall interest of the country’s democracy.
“If Northern-Northern candidates emerge in the two major political parties, it won’t speak well for our country. It will give the impression that power belongs to one particular section of the country. It won’t be good. So, whatever way they resolve it, they should be very careful,” Sagay warned.
The Southeast zone which has been complaining of perceived marginalization is strongly agitated by the sudden turn of events.
As of the last count, only two aspirants from the region have declared their intentions to run for the presidency on the platform of the PDP.
They are former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, and erstwhile Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim.
A lot of stakeholders have accused the party leadership of playing the ostrich by throwing the contest open after the aspirants have obtained the nomination form of N40 million.
According to some political pundits, the party may pay dearly for the decision in the 2023 presidential election.
