By James Orji
A chieftain of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP and media guru, Chief Raymond Dokpesi says his party will only stand a chance to wrestle power from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC if a northerner is chosen as the party’s presidential flagbearer in 2023.
The television tycoon and owner of Daar Communications Plc accounts were recently unfrozen after a Supreme Court judgment against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to that effect.
He has been in and out of court since President Muhammadu Buhari took power in 2015. The administration accused him of corruption.
The two dominant political parties in the country have yet to zone the presidency to any part of the country. But Dokpesi’s comment however, comes on the heel of suggestions that the presidency should be zoned to the South East. Nobody from the region has ruled the country since independence in a civilian capacity.
In spite of this, Dokpesi insist that the PDP can only win the presidential election if a northern candidate is fielded. .
According to him, “We are all Nigerians and there is no need for us to keep deceiving ourselves at this point in time. At the age of 70 and with my experience in organising campaigns in this country, I can tell you that unless there is a candidate from the North, in my own considered opinion, the PDP will not stand a chance of winning the election.”
“On the ambition of those from the South who are today asking for the presidency to be zoned to the South, I can say that they are only echoing what prevails in the APC. In APC, President Muhammadu Buhari has done eight years, so it is imperative on APC to cede the presidency to the South.
“In the case of PDP, let us look at it honestly. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo from the South-West did eight years; Goodluck Jonathan from the South-South also did six years. That made a total of 14 years.
“On the other hand, Umaru Yar’Adua from the North did three years, so there is an imbalance of 11 years. If in 2019, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar had not been rigged out of that election, he would have come back in 2023 to say that he wants to do a second term. And would anybody have stood on his way? No!
“So, for the PDP, the presidential candidate must come from the North in 2023. People should exercise patience because it will still come back to the South”.
Meanwhile, Dokpesi said while he believes that it is fair that the South- East should produce the president as it is the only Southern zone not to have done so since 1999, the South-East cannot win if it gets the presidential ticket at this time.
