The Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Delta State, Mr Oke Idawene, has faulted zoning arrangements in some political parties.
He said zoning the 2023 presidency to a certain region is totally undemocratic.
Idawene who spoke in Abuja said SDP would not be in tune with a zoning arrangement but for the competence of the candidate irrespective of the region, the candidate comes from.
“Let us elect a leader who is a true Nigerian both in body, soul and spirit, so that at the end of the day, we can say Nigeria is going forward, not backward.
“Enough of us being a laughing stock, enough of retrogression, it’s time to move forward, SDP is anti-zoning, we believe incompetence.
“For the southern leaders, I’m from the South, if you want the presidency in 2023, I call on you to lobby; power is not given for free, it is taken, and it is a collective responsibility,” Idawene maintained.
Speaking on the need for Nigeria to remain united, he implored Nigerians to believe in the dream of one nation, saying that the country would not disintegrate despite the several challenges facing it.
“IPOB, I beg you to stop the killings, the South-East needs peace, no man runs from his house because there is trouble, let us all come together and sort Nigeria out, this should be seen as our responsibility,” he urged.
He also lauded the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, for experimenting with electronic voting at the recently held Delta Isoko South Constituency 1 election.
“The Biometric Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS) was used and there was no election rigging in that election.
“For the first time in Nigeria, I went for an election where until the election morning, the collation officers were not known, and the voting pattern was clear, there was no fictitious vote, and we had genuine votes.
“To this end, I think we should give INEC all the support for electronic voting and collation of election results.
“It is only then that we can get genuine leadership and know that Nigeria is tilting towards democratic tendencies,” he said.