2023: Atiku finally speaks on the zoning of the presidential ticket

The former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has spoken about the zoning of the presidential ticket ahead of the 2023 election.

The 2019 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar said the geopolitical zone of the president is not the solution to the problems of the country.

He said Nigeria’s president can come from any part of the country.

Speaking at the 94th National Executive Committee (NEC) of the main opposition party in Abuja on Thursday, the former Vice-President of Nigeria argued that the zoning of the 2023 presidential ticket has never been the cause of the country’s problem nor will it be the solution.

“The PDP has the right to determine its rules and how the party should be governed. The people of Nigeria also have the rights to determine who governors them,” he said.

“Where the president comes from has never been the problem of Nigeria. I can cite examples — neither will it be the solution.

“There is no such thing as a president from southern Nigeria or a president from northern Nigeria. There is only one — a president from Nigeria, for Nigeria and by Nigerians.

In respect to the already zoned chairmanship seat as well as other national officers seats, the former vice president said he would like to see a sizable number of youth and women in the new National Working Committee the party braces to produce.

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Making his stance known before the NEC went behind closed doors for its decisive meeting, he posited that “the decision of the NEC today will either see the PDP into the Villa in 2023 or not” as he referenced a time when he turned down the opportunity to clinch the ticket in 2003.

He said the 1999 conference that led to the emergence of Olusegun Obasanjo was birthed out of the injustice meted out on M.K.O Abiola during the June 12 election and was agreed by all who later went to establish some of the political parties the country has today.

“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 southwest for eight years, then I turned it down and we moved on,” he said.

With the zoning of the chairmanship ticket to the North by the Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi- led committee last week, the party presidential ticket, going by tradition, should go to the South, a move that may further dent Mr Abubakar’s 2023 ambition.

The PDP’s acting national chairman, Yemi Akinwonmi, in his opening remark, urged all members to embrace whatever comes from the meeting for the party’s ultimate goal of reclaiming power from the APC.

His view was also seconded by the chairman of the party’s governor’s forum, Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto Governor), who spoke before Mr Abubakar.

The PDP National Secretariat was unusually bursting with different security operatives as speculation of disagreement ruled the atmosphere before the NEC commenced its meeting at some minutes after 3 p.m.

This newspaper witnessed the arrival of 10 out of the 13 governors elected under the PDP umbrella.

Among the governors sighted were Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta State), Douye Diri (Bayelsa), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Godwin Obaseki (Edo), Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Samuel Ortom (Benue) and Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa).

David Mark and Bukola Saraki, who are former senate presidents, were also at the meeting as well as former ministers, former and serving national lawmakers.

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