Despite the vehement stand of the Southern Governors that power must shift to the region in 2023, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will zone the presidency to the North, 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE has gathered.
The final session of the party’s National Zoning Committee headed by Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi will hold on Wednesday to unveil its final stand and recommendations on the vexed issue at the meeting.
The Northern Governors and elders at an emergency meeting on Monday, called the bluff of their Southern counterparts by rejecting power rotation, which they said, runs contrary to the spirit and letters of the 1999 constitution.
In a statement at the end of an emergency meeting they held at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, in Kaduna on Monday, Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum and Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, said the Southern Governors’ position will limit the franchise or freedom of choice of other regions, adding that northerners have the democratic right to choose who should be the president in 2023.
The emergency meeting was summoned to respond to the Southern Governors who said zoning the presidency to the region is not negotiable and the contentious issue on rights of the states to collect Value Added Tax (VAT).
Already, two states in the South, Rivers and Lagos have signed the law legalizing collection of VAT by their respective state governments, even as the federal government has approached the courts on the matter.
Most of the PDP governors came from the South, while the North has four.
Out of the four governors from the North that of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal and Governor of the PDP governors Forum and his Bauchi State counterpart, Bala Mohammed were present at the Kaduna meeting, while Taraba and Benue were represented by their deputies.
A member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP from a North Central State, told 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE in confidence that although the South has the right to agitate for power and has been consistent in its demand, the party has its rotational arrangement right from the very beginning.
Our correspondent reports that the National Zoning Committee meeting in Enugu last week on the matter ended in deadlock.
The source said there is consensus that the party will adopt the 2016 formula which zoned the presidency to the North.
The party’s zoning committee headed by the Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi in its report then affirmed that “the presidential ticket of the party for 2019 is reserved for the North…”
A northerner, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was the party’s flag bearer during the 2019 presidential election, but lost to the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s Muhammadu Buhari.
Although Buhari is also from the North, the pro-northern presidency group within the party argued that the APC is a different platform and that there is need for the North to complete the late Umar Musa Yar’adua’s tenure.
“It is a clear issue of fairness and equity which all peace loving members of the party should support and most of their southern colleagues are aligned with this,” the source said.
Our correspondent learnt that at the botched meeting last week, former Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim was said to have led the pro-southern presidency group, while Oyo State Governor has no problem with allowing the North to take the slot and agreed to the zoning of chairmanship to the South.
Another source, a former Senator on the platform of the party said the anti-North comments and actions by some southern governors recently is winning more sympathy for a northern presidency across the North.
“Political positions are won through lobbying, not insults as we experienced recently from leaders from the South.
“In democracy, numbers count; it’s a game of the majority, and the minority seeking for power must lobby for such and that is what was obtainable in the past,” he noted.
Our correspondent learnt that the contention among parties of which should take the presidential ticket has been on for a while.
“It is part of the controversy that led to the suspension of Uche Secondus as national chairman of the PDP.
“You may also be surprised that most of those who have indicated interest to contest for the party’s chairmanship position are mostly from the same South who are clamouring for the presidency. Is the sign not clear?” he queried.
Speaking on the matter, a former minister of state for Justice and PDP stalwart, Musa Elayo said it was wrong for political leaders to begin to advance zonal interests outside the realm of their political parties, noting that zoning was adopted by political parties for the purposes of winning elections.
He said what people should be agitating for is a Nigerian president not a regional leader, adding that the contest should be thrown open for any competent Nigerians to vie.
He said when the late President Yar’adua died and former President Goodluck Jonathan came on board, the zoning was abandoned.
“You have a president who ruled the country for eight years from the South, Yar’adua just did two years before his death. The constitution says the vice president should step in on the demise of the president and we all worked for Jonathan to do so. He completed Yar’adua’s tenure and after that, he wanted another four years and we supported him. He again presented himself and the party gave him the nod before the electorates decided to vote for the APC.
“So if you are looking at the PDP as a party, in the 16 years it held sway, the North had only two years against the South’s 14. So if a governor on the platform of the PDP from the South is saying it is still their turn to produce the president of the country, it means he does not even respect the zoning arrangement of his own party.
