The decision of the Nigeria’s leading opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to leave the eligibility to contest for its presidential ticket in 2023 election has not gone down well with the governors from the Southern part, who were elected on the platform of the party.
This showed as the governors re-issued their demand for the party’s presidential ticket to be zoned to the South ahead of the general elections.
They kicked against the purported recommendation of the PDP Zoning Committee that the slot be thrown open for all to contest.
The governors who held an emergency meeting to deliberate on the matter stated that any attempt by the party’s leadership to throw the presidential ticket open would be deemed to be unjust and must be rescinded.
Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, made the position of the governors known to reporters on Saturday morning at the end of the meeting held at the Akwa Ibom Governor’s Lodge in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
According to the governors, the PDP has a zoning arrangement that is recognised by the party’s constitution and that must be respected by the leadership of the party.
The meeting held four days after the committee led by Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State concluded its sitting on the party’s zoning arrangement.
The PDP National Working Committee inaugurated the zoning committee on March 24 following the debates and controversies over where the party’s presidential candidate should emerge.
The committee was tasked with the responsibility of ensuring fair distribution of the party’s elective offices across the country.
Governor Ortom, while briefing reporters on Tuesday at the end of the committee’s meeting in Abuja, said members had reached a unanimous agreement on the matter.
He had, however, declined to speak on what the position of the committee was, saying a report would be forwarded to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party.
Some members of the committee included Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwunanyi of Enugu State, Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu, as well as former governors, lawmakers and other party stalwarts.
