2023: North’s voting strength pushes PDP to dump zoning

The zoning committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has recommended that the party’s presidential ticket should be thrown open ahead of the 2023 general election.

The Star can report the voting strength of the Northern states forced the PDP to throw its 2023 presidential ticket open.

Nine of the Nigeria’s 10 states with the highest voters’ turnout are from the North.

It was gathered that the PDP zoning committee took the decision after a meeting held at Benue State Governor’s lodge in Abuja on Tuesday.

The PDP 37-person zoning committee, it was learnt, cited ‘exigency of time’ for its recommendation, contrary to the calls to zone the presidential ticket to the South.

However, a hint on the committee’s recommendation revealed that the committee recommended that: “Zoning, as in our party constitution, is affirmed.

“In spite of (1) above, ticket is thrown open, this time around due to exigency of time.

“Our party is encouraged to always make the issue of zoning very clear at least 6 months before sales of forms.

“Our party should commend the efforts of some our contestants on the issue of concensus candidacy; the efforts should be seen to a peaceful and logical.”

A senior party source, who craved anonymity, disclosed that the PDP would throw open the presidential ticket rather than restrict it to a region.

The source revealed that the zoning committee took the decision over the voting strength of the Northern region of the country, noting that reference was made to the 10 states with the highest turnout of voters in the 2019 election.

He said: “Of these 10, nine were northern states and only Lagos made the list. Kano, Kaduna, and Katsina had the highest number of voters’ turnout while Lagos came a distant fourth.

“Aspirants should be allowed to test their popularity at the primary election but if they choose to adopt a consensus approach, that will be acceptable to the party. It is a position member of the committee was comfortable with.”

However, the recommendation of the PDP zoning committee has generated angry reactions from organisations such as the Igbo socio-cultural group, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the Pan-Niger Delta Forum and the Middle Belt Forum, calling for the zoning of the PDP presidential ticket to the South.

The organisations argued that the decision to zone the presidential ticket would affect the chances of the PDP in the 2023 general election.

It would be recalled that PDP zoned its presidential ticket to the North during the 2019 general election.

The main opposition party argued that the zone still had an uncompleted tenure following the death of former President Umaru Yar’Adua, who only served for two years and 11 months.

Yar’Adua died on May 5, 2010.

Meanwhile, the PDP zoning committee says it will present its unanimous decision on zoning to the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).

The chairman of the committee and Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, disclosed this after the committee’s meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.

Ortom, who did not disclosed the zoning decision of the committee and when it would be submitted, said the decision was unanimously agreed by the 37 members of the committee.

“We have just finished our meeting after we rose from our meeting last week.

“Today we decided that we will meet and by the Grace of God we have unanimously adopted a position that will be sent to the NEC of our Party that appointed us.

“The good news for our teaming supporters of the PDP and Nigerians is that we have resolved and everyone of us, the 37 members unanimously adopted the position that we are going to present to NEC,” Governor Ortom said.

Present at the meeting were Governors Darius Ishaku of Tarab State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State; ex-governors Ahmed Makarfi (Kaduna), Boni Haruna (Adamawa), Ibrahim Shema (Katsina), and Sule Lamido (Jigawa).

Others include former Information Minister, Prof. Jerry Gana, erstwhile Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Relations, Tanimu Turaki, and Chairman, PDP Disciplinary Committee, Chief Tom Ikimi, among others.

The Star