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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is in a fix on how to handle issues surrounding the zoning of the 2023 presidential ticket, without causing disaffection within its fold.
Since the conclusion of the 2019 general elections, the 2023 presidential ticket of the PDP has dominated discourse in the main opposition party. The party in the aftermath of the last general elections had set up a panel to review the outcome of the polls, and make appropriate recommendations, ahead of the 2023 polls.
The 2019 Election Review Committee, which was chaired by the Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, in March 2021, submitted its report and recommended that the contest for the PDP 2023 presidential ticket should be thrown open.
The Bauchi governor, while presenting the report to the opposition party’s leadership had noted that “in line with certain unwritten conventions of the nation’s history, many people think that, for fairness and equity, the North East and South East geo-political zones that have had the shortest stints at the Presidency, should be given special consideration, in choosing the presidential flag bearer of the party, for the 2023 elections.
“While we admit that this is a strong argument, we should not lose sight of the fact that Nigeria is endowed with many capable and very experienced leaders in every part of the country.
“Therefore, we think that every Nigerian, from every part of the country, should be given the opportunity to choose the best candidate, through a credible primary election; as a way of institutionalising a merit-based leadership recruitment process for the country.”
A case for equity
Since that report was submitted, PDP leaders across the country have been divided on whether or not the 2023 presidential ticket should be zoned.
There are two divides in the campaign for the zoning of the presidential ticket. On the one hand are the pro-zoning group, which wants the presidential ticket to be zoned to the South. This group consists majorly of PDP leaders from the South while on the other hand, are proponents of no zoning.
At the head of this group are leaders of the opposition party from the North. The latter wants the PDP presidential ticket thrown open to all qualified aspirants.
However, each of the two divides anchors their demands on the quest for equity and fair play. While the pro- zoning group argues that since by convention power has rotated between South and North since the inception of the present democratic dispensation, it will be immoral for the PDP or any of the major political parties for that matter, to want to field a Northerner as its presidential candidate in 2023, by which time, the North through President Muhammadu Buhari would have occupied the Presidency for eight unbroken years.
Therefore, not a few argue that the presidency should be ceded to the South in 2023, with the South East, which is yet to produce a president of the country as the beneficiary, in the interest of equity and fair play.
Regardless, the anti-zoning group opines that for the 16 years that the PDP held power, the South produced the President for 13 years, while the North had it for three years.
For this group, equity means throwing the presidential ticket open to all qualified aspirants. Analysts say this is because the North believes they stand a better chance in producing the PDP presidential flag bearer if the contest is thrown open.
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, while speaking at the PDP 94th NEC meeting, last October, had said where the president comes from has never been an issue in the country.
“Where the President comes from has never been the problem of Nigeria. It will not be the solution to the problems of Nigeria. There is no such thing as a President from Southern Nigeria or a President from Northern Nigeria. There is only one President, a President of Nigeria, for Nigeria and by Nigerians.
“The Peoples Democratic Party has the right to determine its rules on how the party should be governed. The people of Nigeria also have the right to determine who governs them,” Atiku stated.
Regardless, former President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Sam Ohuabunwa, told journalists, recently, in Abuja, that zoning of the presidential ticket, is imperative to ensure inclusion.
“If you don’t zone, you are going to perpetually keep people as slaves. And if you want unity, you must bring inclusiveness. ..
“But if you say there is no zoning, no rotating; after President Buhari, somebody from Katsina should also become president. Because, the moment, it is not Kastina, you have started rotating. You should say anybody; his brother can succeed him. And I will tell you how the rest of Nigerians will take it,” Ohuabunwa had stated.
Nevertheless, pundits say contrary to Atiku’s position, zoning or where the President comes from has always been an issue in the politics of the country since 1999. For starters, in 1999, both the PDP and the defunct All Peoples Party (APP) zoned their presidential tickets to the South West, to pacify the zone over the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election, won by late Chief MKO Abiola.
Prior to the 2011 presidential election, the Northern political elites had vehemently opposed the quest by former President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the PDP presidential primary. In their bid to stop Jonathan, the Northern elites rallied round the former Vice President as their consensus candidate for the PDP primary. However, he was defeated by the former.
Also, the insistence of the immediate past president to contest the 2015 presidential poll, against the zoning principle of the party, had led to the exit of Northern leaders, including Atiku, Bukola Saraki, Aminu Tambuwal amongst others from the opposition party in 2014.
They later teamed up with the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change ( CPC) to form the All Progressives Congress (APC). The APC eventually defeated the PDP in the 2015 polls.
A party’s dilemma
Daily Sun gathered that the PDP leadership is in a dilemma, on how best to resolve the zoning imbroglio. The PDP since inception in 1999 has always operated a principle of rotation and zoning of both party and elective offices.
In fact, Section 7(3)(c) of the opposition party’s constitution expressly stated that it shall adhere to “the policy of the rotation and zoning of party and public elective offices in the pursuance of the principle of equity, justice and fairness.”
Pundits attribute the humiliating loss the PDP suffered in 2015 to a breach of the zoning principle by the party in a bid to give President Jonathan an opportunity to contest for a second term.
Therefore, the challenge before the party is how to address the zoning issue, without much backlash from any of the two divides.
Last month the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC), set a 37 man committee to address the zoning controversy.
The panel is headed by the Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, with the minority leader of the House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu as deputy chairman. The 37-man, which has two weeks to complete its assignment, is expected to submit its report this week.
However, pundits say the committee is more or less a smokescreen, especially coming after the party has commenced the sale of nomination forms for the 2023 contest.
The publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu, who has already obtained the Expression of Interest and Nomination forms for the PDP presidential primary, said it will be impossible for the party to disqualify anyone, who has obtained the forms on the basis of zoning.
According to him, “on the issue of zoning or no zoning, I believe that allowing all aspirants to buy their forms at N40 million suggests that the race is open to all, regardless of what part of Nigeria they come from. It is practically and legally impossible for a political party to disqualify an aspirant on account of zoning after collecting a whopping N40 million for services not rendered.”
But the PDP chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, said the party must look at the bigger picture in resolving the issue of whether or not to zone the 2023 presidential ticket.
Ayu, while inaugurating the zoning committee, a fortnight ago, had urged them to keep their eyes on the party winning the 2023 polls.
According to him, “ there should be no rancour whatsoever, remain focused on the bigger picture. Because that is what we want. I believe by the time we have the big prize in our hands, we will share it, we will rotate it the way we want. If we had not been interrupted on this journey, about six years ago, we have started the same process.
“At the beginning, we push the presidency to the South. I was one of those who took that decision. And there are many others here in this hall. After general Obasanjo, we voluntarily sent it to Katsina but fate played a fast one on us. In the same spirit, after late Umaru Yar’dua, it sent it to Bayelsa.
“So, PDP has a history of rotating our offices. Anybody who doesn’t get it this time should wait after the tenure of whoever will be our next president
We believe PDP is going to produce the next President once we start this journey this time. We will ensure it goes round. And it will go round with justice, fairness and the interests of Nigeria.”
Nevertheless, the schism over zoning of the PDP presidential ticket seems to be deepening, as both the antagonists and protagonists are holding tightly to their positions. Recently, PDP leaders in South East, South West and South South insisted that the ticket must be zoned to the South.
However, Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, while speaking at a consultative meeting recently in Abuja, admonished party leaders to be conscious about winning the 2023 polls, and not the zoning debate.
According to him, the party must accept the political realities in the country, and work with it to win the next presidential poll, thereafter, share power to every section of the country.
“We must accept these realities as a party and work with these realities to win election; after when we come down and say okay, let’s share power. Win election first. Don’t win zoning o! Win the election and we’ll come and share power. Because the President and the vice President cannot come from the same zone.”
Regardless, amidst rising tension, spokesman of the opposition party, Debo Ologunagba, told our correspondent that there is no cause for alarm. Ologunagba said he is confident that the zoning committee will address the issue satisfactorily.
“What we have done, because we are a family that discusses issues with honesty and taking into consideration the situation of the country and where we are, what we did was to set up a committee to ensure that all interests, all issues relating to zoning are discussed fully.
“And you will recall the membership of this committee is drawn from across the country, one member representing each state. I think the committee will do the right thing. And we should wait patiently for them to come back to NEC,” he said.
