The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday, has finally zoned the position of the national chairman of the party to the north.
The Chairman of the party’s Zoning Committee and Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, made the announcement on Thursday after the meeting of the committee in Abuja.
Mr Ugwuanyi said other positions within the National Working Committee (NWC) will be swapped between the north and the south.
The zoning committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has resolved that the presidential ticket of the party will not be zoned yet.
The party said the decision of the Committee to zone the Party offices does not in any way affect the executive and legislative offices in Nigeria.
However, it also resolved that the north and the south should swap current party positions.
This means the chairman will come from the north while the national secretary will come from the south, among other changes.
At a meeting held on Thursday afternoon at Fraser Hotel, Abuja, and chaired by Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, governor of Enugu state, the committee resolved that the issue of zoning the presidential ticket should be put on hold.
The presidential candidates are not expected to be selected until the last quarter of 2022, but it would appear a cat-and-mouse game is unfolding between the PDP and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over what zone to pick their flagbearers from.
The resolution of the zoning committee is expected to forward to the national convention organising committee, chaired by Ahmadu Fintiri, governor of Adamawa state.
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The PDP was embroiled in a leadership crisis which eventually led to the exit of Uche Secondus as national chairman.
Yemi Akinwonmi was appointed as national chairman in the interim, pending the national elective convention of the party which has been scheduled for October 2021.
COMMUNIQUE AT THE END OF THE PDP ZONING COMMITTEE MEETINGS HELD IN ENUGU AND ABUJA, ISSUED ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2021.
At the end of the deliberations of the PDP National Zoning Committee, it was resolved as follows:
- The National Zoning Committee of the PDP was given the mandate to zone National offices to be contested by all PDP Members of the Party at the PDP National Convention of the Party scheduled for October 30, 2021, by the National Executive Committee of the Party.
- That the mandate of the Committee does not include Zoning of the offices of the President, Vice President and other Executive and Legislative offices of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And the decision of the Committee to zone the Party offices does not in any way affect the executive and legislative offices in Nigeria.
- That zoning of offices on PDP has traditionally been between the North and South of Nigeria.
- The decision of the PDP Zoning Committee is in line with the Constitution of the Party on Zoning and rotation of Party and national offices in the interest of justice, equity and fairness. Consequently, the current offices being held by officers in the Southern Zones of the country, namely, South West, South East and South-South zones, should swap places with the offices currently in the northern zones of Nigeria, namely, North West, North East and North Central zones.
- We want to thank the Party, especially the National Executive Committee that set up this Committee on September 9, 2021, for finding us worthy to serve the Party in the capacity of Zoning Committee members.
- We shall pass on our recommendations to the National Executive Committee of the Party through the National Working Committee of the Party.
H.E. Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Chairman)
H.E. Governor Samuel Ortom (Deputy Chairman)
H.E Mahdi Aliyu Mohammed (Secretary)
