The Pan-Niger Delta Forum, (PANDEF), has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dug its own grave by jettisoning zoning and throwing open the contest for the party’s presidential ticket ahead of the 2023 general election.
Its National Publicity Secretary of PANDEF, Ken Robinson, said this in a statement made available to newsmen in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday.
Robinson said the decision of the National Executive Committee of the PDP to uphold the Governor Samuel Ortom committee’s recommendation was unfortunate and shameful.
He called on the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to take cash-in on the ‘indiscretion’ of the PDP to ensure the emergence of a southern presidential candidate for next year’s poll.
The statement further read in part, “Sadly, this is a party whose Constitution unequivocally commits to the policy of rotation and zoning of the party and public elective offices in pursuance of the principles of equity, justice and fairness.
“The opinion that the PDP is not obligated to zone its presidential ticket for the 2023 election, is preposterous and illogical, likewise, the implied consideration that it’s only a northern candidate that can secure victory for the party in the 2023 presidential election”.
The statement said it was needless to remind the main opposition party that former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan were not northerners, yet they both won presidential elections for the PDP in 1999, 2003, and 2011 respectively.
“It bears stating that the presidency is not the presidency of a party; it is the presidency of Nigeria. The fact that President Muhammadu Buhari is of the APC is extraneous.
“We expect the APC to take advantage of the awful indiscretion of the PDP to consolidate itself as a truly nationalistic party, committed to the unity, peace and progress of Nigeria, by ensuring the emergence of a southern presidential candidate for the 2023 elections”.
“PANDEF notes that Nigeria is a great country of outstanding men and women, with incredible possibilities; we cannot afford to fritter the labours of our heroes, past and present, by allowing rapacious politicians to callously and carelessly jettison arrangements and understandings that have sustained the oneness and stability of the country over the years, now”, Robinson added.
