The Chairman of the PDP Zoning Committee and Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has assured party supporters that they will come up with an arrangement that will be acceptable to all.
With aspirants from different zones of the country picking nomination forms to vie for its presidential ticket despite its rotation policy, the PDP has found itself pressed to resolve the issue amicably as it prepares for primaries.
The 37-man zoning committee had its second meeting in Abuja on Tuesday after which Ortom disclosed that the high stakes notwithstanding, there was no tension in the committee’s deliberations.
The committee was however unable to conclude its assignment and had now adjourned till next week Tuesday.
Ortom said: “The meeting is yet to be concluded. We have adjourned till Tuesday next week at the same time, at the same venue. And until we conclude the proceedings, there is not much to say. So far, all the members are quite understanding. There wasn’t any form of tension.”
He added: “All the members understand ourselves that zoning is very key and we are looking at it that at the end of it all, we will do something that everybody will accept and we will go ahead as one big family and win the 2023 elections.”
The zoning committee’s meeting came just as a group, the PDP Justice and Equity group, advised it not to zone the presidential ticket to either the south or north of the country.
In a memo to the Ortom committee, it demanded that the ticket should be open to all eligible members from all parts of the country.
The memo, which was signed on behalf of the group by Hon. Ahmed Muhktar, Hon Yemi Arokodare and Barrister Chima Ndugbu argued that the interest of the party will be better served if there is no polarity in the contest, especially that arising from regional or zonal sentiments.
The memo added: “Our position is that the presidency should not be zoned to either the south or north of the country.
“Rather, it should be an open race where members of the party from both the north and south of the country are free to aspire to the office of the president of Nigeria. We hold this position with the utmost sense of responsibility.
“It is our firm belief that the interest of the party will be better served when there is no polarity in the contest, especially that arising from regional or zonal sentiments.
“We equally recognize the fact that the PDP as an opposition party is constrained in some ways. It cannot afford the luxury of boxing itself into a regional or sectional corner.
“Zoning the office of the president to any section of the country will drive it into this costly error.
“What the party needs at this time is an open and inclusive race in which no member or section of the country will be excluded.
“As a matter of fact, the PDP as an opposition party must shun the luxury of taking certain liberties. It should, instead, be guided by pragmatism and practical realities.
“And the reality here is that the party will stand stronger in the forthcoming presidential election if it forges a common bond that emphasizes neither north nor south.
“With a pan-Nigerian disposition, the PDP will be in a better shape and state to win the 2023 presidential election.
Indeed, we must recognize that the issue before us is about electoral contests.
“After the primary election, the PDP will not be contesting the election against itself. Rather, it will square up with another formidable political party- the All Progressives Congress (APC)- which also happens to be the ruling party.
“If the PDP must win the race, it must close ranks. It must shun any arrangement that could bring about grievance and feelings of exclusion.
“It should, instead, go into the race more united and more formidable than ever before. An open, free, fair and inclusive primary election will guarantee the party this winning edge.
“We are also of the considered opinion that zoning will make the strategy of the PDP towards the 2023 presidential election easily predictable.
“Since every move of the APC suggests that it will zone its presidential ticket to the south, the PDP should try its hands on a certain form of unpredictability.
“The party should introduce an element of surprise into the game by relying on the oft-repeated aphorism that surprise is the best form of attack.
“An opposition party that throws itself open to predictability can be ambushed by the ruling party. Its strategies will become open and can therefore be exploited to the advantage of the ruling party.
“A no-zoning arrangement by PDP will inflict this surprise element on the ruling APC. This brings us to the ultimate point of our departure with advocates of zoning.
“We canvass the no-zoning arrangement on the basis of strategy. Having known what the ruling party is offering, the PDP will do itself a world of good if it does not adopt an approach whose outcome will be too well known.
“Besides, an open contest such as the one we are advocating will make it possible for the party to make the most democratic choice at the end of the day. “When a candidate emerges without let or hindrance, such a candidate will come without baggage or hangup. He will be for all and will likely be supported by all.”
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