Daily Trust

2023: PDP and the task of zoning

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Iwish to task the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the eligibilit­y and candidacy for the next presidenti­al election in Nigeria, and zoning the party’s presidenti­al ticket to the North ahead of the 2023 elections.

This is not as a result of just hate or disguised guile but rather, it is a considerat­ion based on sense of equity and fairness and definitely in the larger overall considerat­ion for the unity of the country.

To zone the presidency to the North and disenfranc­hise the political interest, aspiration­s and avowed and openly canvassed political position of the entire leadership of the Southern part of the country, will be insensitiv­e, unjust, inequitabl­e and a total subjugatio­n of the principle of fairness and justice.

If the PDP cannot zone the presidency to the South then it must make the contest for the presidency at the nomination convention open to all its members no matter what part of the country they come from.

I wish to further debunk the idea that voters in the North are easily swayed by considerat­ion for one of their own, a notion that is outright fallacy.

In 1993 presidenti­al election, the late MKO Abiola won elections in Northern states even though he contested against a

Northern candidate.

The PDP must not seek power as an opportunis­tic political party that believes in pursuit of power at any or all costs but must seek power still respecting the aspiration­s and genuine desires of the federating component units of this country.

Dr Doyin Okupe is a former presidenti­al spokesman

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