2023: How desperation pushed PDP to flout own constitution

The decision by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Wednesday to discard zoning and throw the party’s presidential ticket open to all parts of the country has been described as a desperate move to win the 2023 election.

The party had, for a very long time, played the mind game with the ruling All Progressives Congress on the matter of announcing whether it was zoning the presidential slot or not.

Some of the presidential aspirants had pointedly told the leadership of the party that zoning the slot would endanger the party’s chances of returning to power in 2023.

In April, when the 37-man zoning committee led by Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue State, rounded off its job of recommending to the party whether to zone the 2023 presidential ticket or not, he had said: “By the grace of God, we have unanimously adopted a position that will be sent to the National Executive Committee of our party that appointed us. The good news for teeming supporters of the PDP and Nigerians is that we have resolved and every one of us – the 37 members – unanimously adopted the position that we are going to present to NEC.”

Information had leaked, and the media was awash the next day with the report that the committee may have discarded zoning and recommended throwing the party’s presidential ticket open to all parts of the country.

But Ortom later denied the reports, saying he never made any such statement and that it was left for the NEC to take a decision on the issue.

Following the reports, many individuals and groups had warned the party against taking a decision that could be interpreted to mean that it did not have regard for certain parts of the country.

In March this year, when Atiku Abubakar, a former vice-president and one of the presidential aspirants, met with members of the PDP Board of Trustees, he spoke to them on the criticality of the 2023 election and why the opposition party must do everything within its powers to win.

He said: “Your excellences, friends, brothers and sisters, we are now at a crucial moment in this country. Many of you here, it is either we retire together or we move on together.”

He also expressed fears that the party “will be in opposition again for the next eight years if it does not win the election. By the next eight years, I don’t know how many will be left in politics and it may even ultimately lead to the death of the party because people gravitate, particularly in developing countries, towards governments.”

On why the PDP appeared desperate, Ike Ekweremadu, a former deputy Senate president and currently a governorship aspirant in Enugu State, had in a recent interview said: “It is understandable; if you are sick, they would come with all kinds of recommendations on how to recover. That is the situation the PDP has found itself in now. The PDP is desperate to return to power and Nigerians also want a change of government. So, the PDP out of desperation is prepared to have anybody from anywhere as long as the person would win the presidency. Sometimes, they are overlooking the justice of the matter.”

Tari Oliver, the only female aspirant of the party, described the development in the PDP as “best for the party.”

She said: “If there should be zoning, the party should zone its ticket to the women because the men have been there for the past sixty-one years. This decision is, however, the best for the party, as it will allow every aspirant to test his or her popularity at the convention.

“Let me assure Nigerians that we are fully prepared for the contest and we are going to produce the best. Nigerians are tired of the current weak leadership.”

Modibo Bakari, a constitutional lawyer, also sees the decision as the best in the country’s interest.

“Nigerians are tired of this ethnic politics, we need to have the best at the helm of our nation’s seat of power,” he said.

Bakari also urged the party to ensure that the convention that will produce its candidate is “free, fair and peaceful,” adding that “this is the only way Nigerians will take them seriously in 2023.”

Kassim Afegbua, a PDP chieftain and spokesman for former Nigerian military president, Ibrahim Babangida, on Thursday, however, berated the party for abandoning its zoning policy.

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Afegbua alleged that “the Ayu-led executive had been working for the realisation of Atlku Abubakar’s ambition right from inauguration.”

He described the non-zoning of offices in the PDP as a deliberate ploy to force a particular candidate on the party.

Afegbua said: “The outcome of the meeting of the National Executive Committee on zoning did not come as a surprise because I knew from day one that the Iyorchia Ayu-led executive was working from answer to question because of pecuniary interest.

“The party, which had historically used zoning to determine who takes the ticket, introduced zoning to Nigerian politics as part of its plans to promote national cohesion and unity.”

He added: “This is contained in Section 7(2)(c) of the party’s constitution which says: ‘… In pursuance of the principle of equity, justice and fairness, the party shall adhere to the policy of rotation and zoning of party and public elective offices.’”

For some time now, the zoning issue had been on the front burner. While the southern stakeholders of the party were of the opinion that the ticket should be zoned to South, their northern counterparts said the contest should be thrown open.

When in April, the plan leaked that the party was planning to throw the ticket open, George Obiozor, president-general of Ohanaeze, a pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, had urged the PDP to adhere to its own constitution as specified in Article 7 (2) (c) of the PDP Constitution, stating: “In pursuance of the principle of equity, justice and fairness, the party shall adhere to the policy of rotation and zoning of party and public elective offices, and it shall be enforced by the appropriate executive committee at all levels.”

Obiozor wondered about the rationale behind the party jettisoning the zoning arrangement at this time when a northerner would be completing eight years in office.

He said in a statement: “Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide reiterates the position of the Southern and Middle Belt Leadership Forum led by Chief E K Clark that any party that does not zone its presidential ticket to the South should not expect the support of the Middle Belt and the entire South. It is, therefore, curious that the PDP should commit political hara-kiri at a time it is struggling for fresh air.

“It is unfortunate that the PDP glomourises inordinate ambitions; any political ambition that undermines nation building should be checkmated. One of the roles of a political party in a democracy is nation building and for the PDP to shirk its responsibilities is an unfortunate path to Golgotha.

“Let it be known that it runs contrary to the indomitable Igbo spirit to swallow any form of indignity, disdain or condescension from anybody or group. It is therefore highly inconceivable that the Igbo will validate a party or group that runs roughshod over its sensibilities.”