2023: Imasuagbon harps on competent candidate, dismisses zoning

As the nation progresses towards the 2023 presidential election and with political permutations taking the centre stage, a Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Edo State, Mr Kenneth Imasuagbon, has said that the competence of those jostling to be president should be of paramount interest above their ethnicities and regional inclination.

Imasuagbon, who was a governorship aspirant in the Edo 2020 governorship election under the PDP, said that for the nation to move forward, Nigerian must begin to search for a presidential candidate who has the full capacity to fix the litany of woes bedevilling the country at the moment.

The Ewohim, Esan South East Local Government Area born philanthropist posited that those agitating that the presidential slot of the PDP be zoned to the southern part of the country in 2023 “do not love Nigeria”, arguing that a candidate “with merit, intellectual capabilities and exposure is what Nigeria needs at this time in its history”.

Imasuangbon who spoke vide a statement he endorsed and made available to newsmen in Benin City, Edo State capital on Thursday, pointed out that “Nigeria is in an emergency situation now and therefore requires emergency solution”.

The politician, who is popularly known as “Rice man”, added that the best option for the PDP was not to push for zoning but allowed all aspirants to contest for the party’s ticket so that the “most popular and most acceptable candidate can emerge”.

He insisted that the PDP never zoned the presidential ticket to the north in 2019 and also never asked any Southern person not to contest.

“The state of the country is chaotic and troubling. We should not be contemplating zoning now. We should be thinking of who is the man that can do the job for the Almajiri in the streets, the farmers, secure the nation and help the economy to grow. The person who can fix our roads, make our schools work and give value to us as Nigerians.

“Who is that Nigerian that will come after President Muhammadu Buhari that will be courageous enough to call a spade a spade, heal the pains of the country and bring the country together? A well-travelled Nigeria that will not have complex when in Washington. Who is that Nigeria that has a taste of the private sector and served in government? The person who knows what to do from day one.

“I feel troubled when people talk about zoning because we are in emergency times and it demands emergency solutions. Look at our hospital. I almost died of malaria because the drugs I got were fake,” Imasuangbon bemoaned.

He further argued that if the zoning formula would be the parameter to decide who should take the slot in 2023, “it is not the turn of the South. If it is PDP, the ticket should go to the North. Jonathan did six years, Obasanjo did eight years, Yar Adua did two years and Buhari is completing eight years. These are not times for testing the waters.”

According to him, “With Northern presidential candidate, we (PDP) can secure victory and rescue our country. Fairness and equity demand that if the South has done 14 out 16, the North should be the next in line to the presidency.

“We are sitting on the precipice on strategic issues like job creation, security and the economy. We need somebody who has been tried and tested. To curb agitation, the best way for our party to go is to throw it open and let the best candidate emerge. The candidate that will heal the wounds. We need to put the country together.

“Those asking for zoning do not love Nigeria. We must de-emphasise zoning. We must look for merit, intellectual capabilities and exposure. Nigeria is bigger than zoning, it is bigger than a political party,” he contended.

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