2023: Atiku Kicks Against Zoning.

By Uche Mbah

Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar has told the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that where the President comes from is immaterial, and asked that the party be guided by the spirit of fairness and equity while shopping for its Presidential candidate in 2023 instead of zoning it along ethnic lines.

Speaking at the 94th National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting Thursday, Atiku said there is only one President, and that is of Nigeria.

“Where the President comes from has never been the problem of Nigeria. It will not be the solution to the problems of Nigeria. There is no such thing as a President from Southern Nigeria or a President from Northern Nigeria. There is only one President,  a President of Nigeria, for Nigeria and by Nigerians”, he said.

Continuing, he said: “The Peoples Democratic Party has the right to determine its rules on how the party should be governed. The people of Nigeria also have the right to determine who governs them.

“Talking about inclusions, I would like to see a new National Working Committee of  our great party that has sizable numbers of our youths and women. The decision of NEC today will either see PDP move into the Villa in 2023, or not.

“Since inception, this party has faced serious challenges, and has risen above sentiments to solve those challenges and move forward,” he added.

“Let me come to historical events, which I said I was going to cite. Those of us who served in the Constitutional Conference, which drafted the current constitution of Nigeria should remember that after we finished drafting the Constitution, we all met as members of the Constitutional Conference  and resolved to correct the injustice that was done to a particular part of this country.

“And we said, in whichever party you found yourself, your Presidential candidate must come from the South-West, because (MKO) Abiola had won election but it was annulled. Not only was it annulled, he was killed.

“So, we all agreed as members, and we went out of the constitutional conference and we formed our parties. The Peoples Democratic Party, The All Peoples Party, APP and the Alliance for Democracy, AD.

“At the end of the day, two parties emerged. PDP picked General Obasanjo and AD picked Olu Falae. All these showed.

“In 2003, all the PDP Governors   met at the Villa and said they were not going to support President Obasanjo for a second term, that I should  run. I now referred them to the resolution of NEC, where NEC decided that power should remain in the South-West for eight years. How do you now want me to go against the resolution of NEC?”

“I turned it down and we moved on.

“So, this country has a sense of fairness. This country has a sense of justice. Therefore, this thing that is inbuilt in our party, we should be able to use it, to imbibe it to make sure today’s deliberations are in the best interest of our party, in the best interest of Nigeria, which will ultimately give us the victory that we asked for, to go back to the villa,” he added

The PDP had, recently, zoned its Chairmanship position to the North, fuelling the impression that its Presidential candidate will come from the South.

Atiku has a huge plan to run for the seat again in 2023.