The Peoples Democratic Party’s national leadership has stated that it has not decided which zone the party’s presidential candidate will come from.
It did, however, explain that it decided to begin selling nomination forms to its presidential aspirants in order to avoid conflict with the Independent National Electoral Commission’s already-released electoral timetable.
Because of INEC’s timetable, the party’s leadership stated that it was difficult to prevent any of the aspirants, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, from purchasing the N40m form.
Recall that Atiku obtained the PDP presidential nomination form on Thursday, claiming that it was obtained for him by northern businessmen through the North-East Business Community.
The sale of forms to Atiku and the desire to sell them to other northern presidential aspirants of the party caught many by surprise, given the country’s desire for power to shift to the south.
Aside from Atiku, the party’s other presidential candidates from the North are the governors of Sokoto and Bauchi states, Aminu Tambuwal and Bala Mohammed, respectively.
Rabiu Kwankwanso, a former governor of Kano State, is also rumored to be pursuing the ambition.
Governors from the country’s south who are members of the PDP agreed with their counterparts from the All Progressives Congress that the next president should be from the south.
Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd. ), who took office in 2015, is set to leave office on May 29, 2023.
There is widespread support for a southerner to succeed Buhari.
Pressure groups from across the country, particularly in the South, have been urging the two major political parties to ensure that their presidential candidates are from the region.
The PDP, which ruled from 1999 to 2015 before handing over power to the APC, had refused to make any commitments in response to the uproar.
Mr Debo Ologunagba, the party’s spokesman, said the party had yet to decide which zone would produce its presidential candidate.
He also stated that the party would not prevent anyone from choosing its form, claiming that doing so would be wrong because the party would not deny any of its members the exercise of their inalienable rights.
He also stated that the party’s National Executive Committee’s 37-member zoning committee would report to the NEC at its next meeting.
Ologunagba, on the other hand, stated that the names of the zoning committee members were not yet known, adding that each state, including the Federal Capital Territory, is expected to nominate a member.
“We haven’t decided where our presidential candidate will come from,” he said. Nonetheless, we are selling form due to the INEC timetable. We cannot wait because doing so will jeopardize our ability to vote in the elections.
“People should not conclude that we have decided where the presidential candidate will come from simply because we are already selling form and Atiku has purchased.”
When asked why the party couldn’t wait for the zoning committee to finish its work before selling nomination forms, Ologunagba replied, “Time is not on our side.”
When asked if the party would refund the money paid for the nomination form by aspirants from any zone who the zoning committee disqualified from running for the position, he said, “I cannot pre-empt the work of the zooming committee.”
If Atiku is elected on the PDP ticket, he will be running for President for the sixth time, having previously run in 1993, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019.
Meanwhile, a three-man committee appointed by the party to mediate the differences between Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and his Rivers State counterpart, Nyesom Wike, has yet to begin work.
The committee is chaired by Benues State Governor Samuel Ortom.
Its members include Delta State Governor Senator Ifenayi Okowa and his Bauchi State counterpart, Bala Mohammed.
When asked if the committee had begun work, Ologunagba stated that he was not a member and thus could not make a definitive statement, but expressed confidence that the committee would do a thorough job.
“The committee was appointed by the NEC, and it would report back to the NEC,” he explained in response to a question about the committee’s operations.
Nonetheless, he stated that he was unsure when the next NEC would be held, and as a result, he was unsure when the zoning and peace committees would submit their reports.
