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Chijioke Agwu, Abakaliki
The forum of state Chairmen of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South East zone has berated the former Governor of Benue state and Senator representing Benue North East,Senator Gabriel Suswam, for saying that the party has zoned the presidential ticket of the party to the northern part of the country ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The former Benue Governor had in a recent interview claimed that the umbrella party has zone its presidential ticket for the 2023 presidential election to the north.
But the chairmen of the party in the five States of the South East zone, yesterday said the presidential ticket of the party has not been zoned to any zone and warned the former Benue Governor to desist from making comments capable of destabilizing the party.
The Chairman of the forum and Chairman of the party in Ebonyi State, Mr. Onyekachi Nwebonyi,in a statement he issued on behalf of the forum in Abakaliki on Thursday said the former Benue Governor made the comment deliberately to disorganize the party ahead of 2023 elections.
Nwebonyi said the Chairmen of the party in the zone were vehemently opposed to zoning the presidential ticket of the party to the North for the 2023 Presidential elections.
He noted that the South East zone had been serially neglected and marginalized in the party despite that it has contributed tremendously for the survival and progress of the party umbrella party.
Nwebonyi sated that equity and justice demand that the presidential ticket of the party should be zone to the South East to compensate the zone for their sacrifices, contributions and marginalization since 1999.
“The Forum of Southeast state chairmen of PDP, which I lead today, rejects and will vehemently reject such decision if ever it is pushed before the NEC of the party.
“By every sense of judgment the Southeast should have the presidency slot in 2023. I therefore enjoin all stakeholders in the play of power who are harboring the idea of zoning the 2023 presidential ticket out of the Southeast to jettison such idea. Equity and justice demand it is their turn. They have men and women of impeccable character. They have men and women with creativity and ingenuity that can turn desert into forest. We the Southeast state chairmen of the PDP stand firm for justice and equity, and will ever stand for that.
” Gabriel Suswam should mind his legislative work in the Senate and stop speaking for the party. He is not the party’s spokesman. If PDP wants to get it right this time, then they should be looking for an aggressive young and business minded person from the lgbo extraction to fly the party ticket in the 2023 presidential race. Only an lgbo man that can turn around the economic misfortune and infrastructural decay that has bedeviled our rich but poor country, Nigeria” Nwebonyi said.
