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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
There are indications that the South East may lose out in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) power sharing in 2023, except it gets the party’s vice presidential slot.
Daily Sun gathered that prior to the PDP national convention, governors elected on the party’s platform had resolved that if one of them failed to clinch the presidential ticket, they would have to produce the vice presidential candidate.
Governors Nyesom Wike, Emmanuel Udom and Bala Mohammed of Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Bauchi states respectfully had contested in the primary, while Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal withdrew at the 11th hour.
However, former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, polled 371 votes against 237 votes scored by Wike to win the ticket.
A source told Daily Sun that the plan was that if Wike won, he would choose a running mate from the core north and if Atiku won, he would choose one of the southern governors as vice president.
However, the source, who is also from the South East, said the former vice president would most likely be looking towards the South South governors for a running mate.
“Though there are two South East governors elected on the PDP platform who are serving out their second terms, it is doubtful if any of them would be considered for the vice presidential slot as they were believed not have supported the Atiku presidential project. The implication is that if the governors insist that one of them would be the vice presidential candidate, the position would elude the South East,” he stated.
It was gathered that with Atiku’s victory, some interest groups in his camp are already pushing strongly for him to choose either Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State or Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom.
Regardless, it was also gathered that some party leaders are equally pushing strongly for the Rivers governor to be chosen as PDP vice presidential candidate or be given the honour of making an input in who becomes Atiku’s running mate.
Daily Sun also gathered that the position of Senate President may be ceded to the North West, with Tambuwal as the beneficiary, if he wins a Senate seat and the PDP wins the presidential election with a majority in the National Assembly. The Sokoto State governor, while announcing his withdrawal from the PDP presidential primary, had asked his supporters to vote for Atiku; apparently paving way for the victory of the former vice president.
After the position of Senate President, the next high office which ordinarily should go to the South East is the speakership of the House of Representatives. However, most of the ranking members elected on the platform of opposition party either did not seek a return to the Green chamber or lost out in the primary at their various constituencies.
Ranking members of the House of Representatives elected on the platform of the PDP who lost their bid to return to the House include the deputy minority leader, Toby Okechukwu and Patrick Asadu, who have been in the parliament for three and four tenures respectively.
The implication, it was gathered, is that even if the PDP zones the speakership to the South East, there might be few ranking members with the requisite experience and exposure to occupy the position.
When contacted, PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said it would be mere conjectures for anyone to begin to imagine that any part of the country would be left out by the opposition party in its power sharing formula if it won the 2023 poll.
He told Daily Sun in an interview that the PDP believes in equitable sharing of power among every section of the country. He said unlike what the APC administration has allegedly done in the last seven years, a PDP led government would ensure that every party of the country is given a sense of belonging.
