A committee, set up by the PDP to review the 2019 general elections, recommends that merit, rather than zoning, be considered.
The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Committee on the Review of the 2019 General Elections has recommended that the party should allow all aspirants from all parts of the country to contest for its 2023 presidential ticket.
The committee, which submitted its report to the leadership of the party on Wednesday, said though many people think special consideration should be given to the North East and South East geo-political zones for the sake of fairness and equity; merit, rather than zonal consideration, should be adopted in the choice of the party’s presidential flag bearer.
It said the two zones have had the shortest stints at the Presidency.
The committee was headed by the Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed.
Its members were the Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, former governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, former senator, Stella Omu and Emmanuel Agbo, who served as secretary.
The committee’s recommendation, if adopted, would dash the hope of some of the members of the opposition party who had canvassed the zoning of the presidency exclusively to the south.
Last year, the governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, dumped the PDP for the ruling All Progressive Party (APC), because, according to him, the party had no plan to zone the position to the South East.
“In line with certain unwritten conventions of the nation’s history, many people think that for fairness and equity, the North-East and South-East geo-political zones that have had the shortest stints at the Presidency should be given special consideration in choosing the presidential flag bearer of the party for the 2023 elections,” Mr Mohammed said.
“While we admit that this is a strong argument, we should not lose sight of the fact that Nigeria is endowed with many capable and very experienced leaders in every part of the country.
