…as Atiku, other Northern aspirants jostle for party’s 2023 presidential ticket
Unless it is a ploy, the zoning of the National Chairmanship of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party by its Zoning Committee to the North may have truncated the presidential ambitions of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; former governor of Kwara State and President of the eighth Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki; former Speaker of the House of Representatives and incumbent Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal; and former governors of Kano and Jigawa states, Rabiu Kwakwanso and Sule Lamido, respectively, writes OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU
Ahead of the National Convention of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party scheduled for the end of October, the hopes of prominent politicians from the Northern part of the country eyeing the party’s 2023 presidential ticket may have been placed under threat, if recent developments in the main opposition party are anything to go by.
This is on the heels of the zoning of the office of the National Chairman of the party to the North by the party’s zoning committee, and the ratification of same by the National Executive Committee of the party at its meeting of Wednesday, October 7, 2021. By internal arrangement of the party since the advent of the present democratic dispensation in 1999, when one zone, between the North and the South, produces the party’s National Chairman, the other zone produces the party’s presidential candidate.
Northern politicians touted to be eyeing the PDP presidential ticket ahead of the 2023 general elections include former Vice President and presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2018 election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; former governor of Kwara State and President of the eighth Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki; former Speaker of the House of Representatives and incumbent Governor of Sokoto State, Rt. Hon Aminu Tambuwal; former two-term governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwakwanso and former two term governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido.
But with the zoning of the National Chairman of the PDP to the Northern part of the country, and the ratification of same by the PDP NEC, the aspirations of Atiku, Saraki, Tambuwal, Kwakwanso, Lamido and others from the North may have been seriously endangered.
It is trite that when the National Chairman of the party comes from the North, its presidential candidate must come from the South and vice versa.
PDP Northern govs versus Southern govs
The zoning of the PDP national chairmanship to the North was coming on the heels of the clamour from Northern governors and Northern traditional rulers for the North to retain power and produce President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor in 2023, against the clamour by Southern governors and prominent Southern politicians for the South to produce the next President after Buhari’s eight years, expected to lapse on May 29, 2023.
This clamour by the Northern governors, politicians and traditional rulers had given impetus to the aspirations of Northern presidential aspirants of the party, who had been scheming for the party’s National Chairman’s ticket to be zoned to the South so that the coast would be clear for them to slug it out among themselves for the party’s presidential ticket ahead of the 2023 presidential race.
Gov Ugwuanyi’s zoning committee
In announcing the zoning formula ahead of the PDP national convention, the zoning committee, chaired by Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, said that its resolution had nothing to do with the party’s presidential ticket, but party sources have insisted that the National Chairman and the presidential candidate cannot come from the same zone, as this has been the tradition in the PDP since 1999.
Ugwuanyi, while reading the communiqué of his committee in Abuja, said that the National Working Committee’s positions currently being held by party members across the country would be swapped between the North and the South.
Insisting that zoning the offices of the President and Vice President was not included in the mandate of his committee, the Enugu State governor said that his committee’s recommendations would be passed to the PDP NEC through the party’s National Working Committee.
When the committee met earlier in Enugu before finally making its decision known penultimate week, the feelers that emanated from the meeting was that the committee had resolved to zone the national chairmanship position to the South, and immediately, party chieftains in the Southern zone had commenced horse trading for the position, with Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde leading the camp of the South-West geopolitical zone. Two prominent politicians touted to be in the race for the PDP National Chairman’s ticket were former governor of Osun State and former military administrator of Lagos State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and two-time PDP governorship candidate in Ondo State, Eyitayo Jegede.
However, the zoning committee seemed to have made a u-turn following its meeting with the PDP Governors’ Forum, held penultimate Wednesday night, where nine members of the PGF voted in favour of zoning the PDP national chairmanship to the South. Only three members of the PGF had voted for the North to clinch the office of the National Chairman.
Baring any unforeseen circumstances, with the ratification of the PDP zoning committee’s recommendation on zoning of national offices of the party, the coast is clear for the October 30 national convention of the party to go on as scheduled.
Apart from the National Chairman of the PDP, the North is also expected to produce the Treasurer, the Woman Leader, the Organising Secretary, the Legal Adviser and the Youth Leader; while the South would produce occupants of the offices of the National Secretary, the National Publicity Secretary, the Financial Secretary, and the National Auditor.
The zoning committee’s communiqué, signed by Governor Ugwuanyi, Chairman; Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, Deputy Chairman; and Deputy Governor of Zamfara State, Mahdi Aliyu Mohammed, Secretary; stated that the zoning was in line with the party’s constitution.
Now that the PDP NEC had ratified the committee’s resolution, horse-trading is expected to start in earnest for who would occupy the office of the party’s National Chairman
It said, “Zoning of offices of the PDP has traditionally been between the North and South of Nigeria. The decision of the PDP Zoning Committee is in line with the constitution of the party on zoning and rotation of the party and national offices in the interest of justice, equity and fairness.
“Consequently, the current offices being held by officers in the Southern zones of the country, namely, South-West, South-East and South-South zones, should swap places with the offices currently in the Northern zones of Nigeria, namely, North-West, North-East and North-Central zones.”
Horse trading begins as Atiku reacts
Now that the PDP NEC had ratified the committee’s resolution, horse trading is expected to start in earnest for who would occupy the office of the party’s National Chairman.
Reacting to the ratification of the zoning of the PDP National Chairman to the North by the PDP NEC, former Vice President and a frontline PDP presidential aspirant, Atiku, insisted that where the president comes from is not the solution to Nigeria’s leadership crises.
He said, “Where the president comes from has never been the problem of Nigeria neither will it be the solution. There is no such thing as the President from Southern Nigeria or President from Northern Nigeria. There is only one President from Nigeria, by Nigeria and for Nigeria.”
And with this comment, it seems Atiku has dismissed the debate on zoning of the party’s presidential ticket as the solution to Nigeria’s leadership crises.
Atiku reacted to the development while speaking at the 94th NEC meeting of the PDP. Atiku said that with respect to the already zoned national chairmanship seat as well as other national offices of the party, he would be delighted to see a sizable number of youths and women in the new NWC the party is bracing to produce.
He said, “The PDP has the right to determine its rules on how its party should be governed. The people of Nigeria also have the right to determine who governs them,” insisting that the NEC decision “will either see the PDP into the Presidential Villa in 2023 or not,” making reference to a time in 2003 when he turned down the opportunity to clinch the presidential ticket.
He also alluded to the 1999 conference that led to the emergence of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, which was birthed out of the injustice meted out to the late M.K.O Abiola during the June 12, 1993 election and was agreed to by all who later went to establish some of the political parties the country has today.
He said, “This is to show you that Nigeria has a sense of fairness.
“In 2003, all the PDP governors met at the Villa, (Ahmed) Makarfi was there, and said they were not going to support President Obasanjo, that I should run. I now referred them to the resolution of the NEC that said power should remain in the South-West for eight years, then I turned it down and we moved on.”
Other Northern presidential aspirants keep mum
Meanwhile, apart from the former VP, other Northern presidential aspirants of the PDP, whose ambition may hit the rock by this decision, have kept sealed lips over the zoning committee’s resolution and it’s ratification by the NEC; with their aides refusing to comment on the issue, just as none of the foremost aspirants have issued any statement over the zoning formula.
However, a source close to one of the presidential aspirants, who pleaded anonymity, said that it is not yet over for the aspirants, adding, “However, our position is that since they have decided it in that manner, it means nothing has changed, and that anybody who is interested in the Presidency will still be free to contest, irrespective of whatever zone he comes from.”
But the Kano State Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Shehu Wada Sagagi, insisted that “for equity and fairness, the North should produce the next PDP presidential candidate,” adding that the decision of the PDP Zoning Committee is not final, since it requires the ratification of the PDP NEC.
Why PDP govs back zoning of party chairmanship to North
While the silence of the graveyard persists in the camps of other affected aspirants over the recommendation of the PDP Zoning Committee, reasons, why the PGF threw its weight behind the decision for the North to produce the PDP National Chairman, have emerged.
Prominent among PGF members who strongly backed the decision were Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and Ugwuanyi. The about turn came after an initial agreement to zone the National Chairman to the South.
One of the reasons behind the change of mind was in line with power shift policy within the party.
The governors want party leadership power to shift from the South to North, in order to give the North a sense of belonging and also to make the zone see reasons why it needs to massively support and vote for the party.
Recall that the embattled outgoing PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, is from the South (Rivers State), and in recognition of the renewed demand for inclusivity and shift of power, the PDF wants to start the reflection of the demand in the party leadership, as revealed by Governor Ugwuanyi, the zoning committee chairman.
The PGF also took the decision to reflect the popular demand for power to shift to the South in 2023.
Many Nigerians, including the Southern Governors’ Forum, and prominent Southern politicians are already clamouring for power to shift to the South, for the region to produce President Buhari’s successor in 2023.
It is further argued that since the party’s National Chairman and presidential candidate can and will not come from the same zone, according to PDP’s internal arrangement and constitution, the wise thing to do is to zone the National Chairman to the North so that the presidential candidate can come from the South. The PDP, probably, in its quest to get it right and do what many Nigerians want, took the decision.
Impeccable sources, who pleaded anonymity, opined that what is playing out is the plan orchestrated by the Northern oligarchy to ensure that a Northerner clinches the PDP presidential ticket in 2023
The PGF also made a u-turn because it allegedly want to support any of its members from the South nursing presidential ambition; with the likes of Wike said to be nurturing presidential ambition.
As is the practice from time immemorial, the PDP governors would like to back one of their own to get the ticket and contest the number one office.
Wike is said to love the idea of the presidential ticket coming to the South to pave the way for him and make things easier for him.
North’s moves to clinch PDP presidential ticket
But for those clamouring for power shift to the South, it may not yet be Uhuru, even now that the PDP NEC has ratified the zoning committee’s resolution. Impeccable sources, who pleaded anonymity, opined that what is playing out is the plan orchestrated by the Northern oligarchy to ensure that a Northerner clinches the PDP presidential ticket in 2023.
A source who confided in this writer, said, “Ignore those who are interpreting zoning of PDP’s chairmanship to North as an indication that the Presidency will be zoned to the South. The politics at play that brought this zoning pattern is one that tells more about party control and not about zoning as regards power shift.
“The Northerners and those in Atiku’s circle are no longer comfortable with the party being under the control of the Southern region; one of the ways they intend to allay their fears is to first take control of the party, by securing the chairmanship position. The decision of who becomes the presidential candidate will be tackled when the time comes.”
When asked how the party will survive the scenario of its National Chairman and its presidential candidate coming from the same region, the source said, “A party’s National Chairman is expendable, he can be removed at the right time,” citing how the Southern National Chairman of the PDP was removed to pave way for the emergence of Haliru Mohammed, when former President Goodluck Jonathan replaced late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in 2010.
He added, “If the PDP picks a Northern presidential candidate, it does not stop them from removing anyone who is in office as National Chairman, to align with the new reality.”
Reacting to this new development, a political analyst who pleaded not to be named, said that the PDP would sound its death knell if it ventured to tow that line come 2023.
He averred that Nigeria has not yet developed to that level and given the current schism in the polity, based on tribal and religious sentiments, any party toying with such idea would be consigned to the dustbin of history.