The zoning committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not throw open the contest for the presidential ticket of the party ahead of the 2023 election, its chairman, Mr Samuel Ortom has said.
The clarification came against the backdrop of media reports that the committee had recommended a democratization of the process, where aspirants from various zones can vie for the party’s ticket.
In a statement by his media aide, Nathaniel Ikyur, on Wednesday in Abuja, Ortom said the media reports on the development were a misrepresentation.
He said: “I want to clear the insinuation that the zoning committee has thrown open the presidential ticket. I did inform the media yesterday (Tuesday, April 5, 2022) that the committee has adopted a unanimous position to be presented to the national executive committee (NEC) of the party. Where did I say that the committee has thrown open the presidential ticket?
“The committee will present the report to NEC. It is the NEC that has the final authority on the zoning of positions.
“As far as the committee was concerned, there were arguments that the presidential candidate should go to the South. While some said it should go to the Northern part of the country. There were others who were of the opinion that it should be thrown open for the best candidate who will be able to deliver good governance and make Nigerians feel like human beings again.
“As the chairman of the committee, we did not say that. So it is very wrong for anyone to insinuate that we have thrown the presidential ticket open. I am still repeating that, whatever we did, we have submitted our report to NEC. So it is wrong for the media to come out with a position despite the fact that they were not members of the committee.”
