PDP Must Zone Presidency To South, Says Bode George 

He encourages PDP stakeholders to guarantee the party returns to power in 2023

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

Former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Deputy National Chairman Chief Bode George believes there should be no doubt about allocating the presidency to the south in 2023.

The party’s choice to ‘hang the presidency’ in the air, according to the PDP leader, is risky, unjust, and wrong.

The politician encouraged PDP stakeholders to guarantee the party returns to power in 2023 in a statement headlined “Zoning is about equity and justice.”

The statement reads in part, “There is an old, enlightening principle laid down by the founding fathers of our party since 1999 that six key positions must always be zoned to the six geo political constituents of our nation to ensure equity and orderly balance of power.”

“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. 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. There must not be any ambiguity at all. This should be crystal clear. Hanging the presidency in the air like a hovering craft without a landing zone is dangerous, unfair and wrong.

Raymond Dokpesi, another PDP chieftain, feels that the PDP would not be able to win the president in 2023 without a Southern candidate.