PDP Panel Rejects Zoning For 2023 Presidency

By Chibuzo Ukaibe Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 2019 review committee yesterday recommended that the presidential ticket of the party should be thrown open to all regions instead of resorting to zoning arrangement.

The panel noted that even though the arguments that the North East and South East geopolitical zones should be given special consideration abound, every Nigerian should be given the opportunity to seek the party’s ticket ahead of 2023.

Chairman of the 14-member committee and governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, disclosed this yesterday while presenting the panel’s report to the party national leadership at the PDP national secretariat.

The committee was assigned to review why the party lost in the 2019 polls and recommend solutions on how the party would return to power in 2023.

The recommendations of the committee are subject to approval by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).

The PDP had in the build up to the 2019 general election zoned its presidential ticket to the North, and on this basis former Vice President Atiku Abubakar emerged the party’s presidential candidate after defeating 11 other northern candidates.

But in its report obtained by LEADERSHIP yesterday, the PDP committee recommended that instead of relying on zoning, the party should go for a presidential candidate with respectable track records.

On how the party ticket should be contested for in 2023, the panel said, “Due to the prevailing situation in Nigeria, where there is lack of trust amongst the different ethnic nationalities, wide spread insecurity, increasing division in the country along religious lines, tribalism/ethnicity to mention but a few, the party must consider nominating a presidential candidate with respectable track records.

“Such a candidate should be a detribalised person, must have requisite competence in governance and good understanding of economic matters. In its search for such a candidate, the party must also consider demography, equitable representation and fairness, competitiveness and integrity in zoning the position for the 2023 election. In this respect, going by the recent history of Nigeria during the last 30-40 years, only the North East and South East regions have not been given the opportunity to serve in the capacity of President of the Federal Republic.”

On why the party lost in 2019, the committee cited party fatigue and complacency, lack…