“Let me warn here that zoning the national chairman of our party, PDP, to the North and leaving the Presidency open is dangerous and may work against it in 2023”, Chief Bode George, former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has warned
George, in a statement today, Sunday, October 10, 2021, explained that there is an old principle laid down by the founding fathers of the party since 1999 that six key positions must always be zoned to the six geo political constituents of the country to ensure equity and orderliness and balance of power.
His word, “There is now a threat to this unwritten doctrine. The zoning arrangement which gave the North the chairmanship of our party and leaves the presidency open is incongruous, unwholesome and a recipe for disaster.
“Once the Chairmanship is now in the North, the presidency must come to the South. Hanging the presidency in the air like a hovering craft without a landing zone is dangerous, unfair and wrong”.
The Atona Odua of Yorubaland further stated that in a nation reeling with divisive politics, marred with discord and ethnic distrust, political leaders should be wary in zoning sensitive positions, saying that it is rather inexplicable that the stakeholders in the party cannot be firm about an issue that will inevitably affect the future of the party and the nation.
According to him, “This is not the time for uncertainties and half measures. Our vision must be clear. Our goal must be certain. Our resolve must be sincere. We can only reclaim the centre in 2023 if every section of this great nation is treated as co-equal and a significant partner in the national voyage. Zoning of all the six key offices will continue to ensure a strong and healthy democratic nation anchored on the fairness doctrine”.
George, an ex naval officer, while appealing that the party stakeholders should revisit the precedents that have sustained them and put them in good stead among Nigerian people declared, “The six key positions are the President, Vice President, National Chairman, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF). Naturally, this means that if the Presidency goes to the North, the Chairman of the party goes to the South and vice versa.
“All these positions are zoned because of the necessity of national belonging and accommodation. Every section of this nation must have a sense of equitable participation in our national life. This has been the enduring pivot of our democratic experience since 1999”.
Uche Nwosu is a two time Shell Petroleum PLC award winner in the year 2000;
He won the Shell Award on Investigative Journalism and Environmental Cleanliness.
