The National Chairman-elect of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Iyorchia Ayu, has said the decision by the party to delay the zoning of its presidential ticket was a tactical move.
He said the decision would be made democratically at the appropriate time.
He said, “We are a very democratic party. We don’t have problems in resolving our problems within the party.
“Everybody thought the zoning of party offices will destroy the party. I think Nigerians were pleasantly surprised that we resolved it without any controversy whatsoever. So, those who are visiting controversies on the party are not getting it right.
“I believe that when the time comes, because today, we have separated the zoning of party offices and zoning of the executive and legislative offices and it’s very tactical.”
The national chairman noted that the loss of the Presidency in 2015 to All Progressives Congress (APC) was a blessing as it prevented the PDP from being dictatorial.
He promised to reposition and re-energise the party to take back power in 2023.
He said, “In a democracy, it’s normal for a political party to lose power. If we didn’t lose power, maybe we would have become a dictatorship or become complacent.
“To believe in democracy there must have been something we were doing wrong or must have done wrong that the Nigerian electorate shifted. But today, if we didn’t lose power, they won’t experience the policies and programmes of the other party. They would think there is something better than us. Thank God we lost power. Today, Nigerian people know better.
“And I believe we will re-energize the party and take over power again, not only at the centre, but in Nigeria, there is a lot of attention taking power at the federal level. There was time PDP was controlling about 20 states. That has been reduced to 13. We hope and pray and we will work very hard to increase that number from 13 to control over 20 states, possibly, we will win the federal government.
“So, that is really my vision for this party. We will unite the party as I have said and I believe that very soon, we will have a very united, very focused political party.”
