The North-South divide in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over zoning of the 2023 Presidential ticket is widening.
Presidential aspirant Aminu Tambuwal, Sokoto State governor, said yesterday that instead of talking about zoning, the party should give the ticket to the candidate that can win the election.
But Southwest leaders of the main opposition at a meeting hosted in Ibadan by Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde insisted that the South should produce the presidential ticket.
Their position is in sync with that of Southsouth governors and leaders expressed on Monday at their meeting in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.
“The PDP should give the ticket to the Southsouth zone which is its stronghold,” Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, told the meeting.
Thirteen PDP governors were meeting last night in Umuahia, the Abia State, with the issue of zoning likely on the agenda.
The PDP’s main decision-making organs – the National Caucus, the Board of Trustee (BoT), and the National Executive Committee (NEC) – met in Abuja but failed to agree on which zone should produce its standard-bearer.
It raised a 37-member body to give a report within two weeks on the vexed zoning issue.
Tambuwal, speaking at a meeting with former principal officers of the national and state assemblies, as part of his consultation, said the party leadership and stakeholders would have to choose between zoning of its presidential ticket and winning the election.
Calling for unity of purpose, he said no single zone can win the presidential election all alone.
He urged those clamouring for zoning to consider the demographic composition of the country and the trend in past election results.
But, one of PDP’s founding fathers, Chief Olabode George described Tambuwal’s proposal as “illogical”, adding that “it puts the cart before the horse” with the argument that the party should win the election before talking about sharing of offices.
Tambuwal explained further that what should be paramount to the PDP was the need to adopt the best strategy to dislodge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023 and resolve the issue of power-sharing afterwards.
Tambuwal recalled that it was such strategic planning that enabled the APC to win the presidential election in 2015.
The governor observed that part of the APC strategy at the time was to give its presidential ticket to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari from Katsina State.