‘Zoning Presidential Ticket Violates PDP, Nigerian Constitutions’

A People’s Democratic Party (PDP) group in Ondo State has described the zoning of the party’s presidential ticket to the southern part of the country as “undemocratic and unacceptable to the majority of the party members.

The group under the auspices of Gbenga Hassim Solidarity Movement (GHSM) said the zoning arrangement announced by the party’s leadership would rob the country of qualified and competent people to govern.

In a statement signed by the Director of Media and Publicity, Hon. Adekunle Onaopemipo, and made available to LEADERSHIP in Akure, the state capital, the party further described the zoning arrangement as laughable, undemocratic, and unacceptable to the majority of its members.

Onaepemipo said the GHSM strongly condemned the deliberate attempt by some influential individuals within the party to play the undertaker sent to bury the party ahead of the general election 2027.

The group faulted the decision of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the PDP to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South, describing it as a deliberate constitutional breach aimed at foisting a weak candidate on the party.

His words, “It is a deliberate strategy to shut out candidates from the Northern extraction from the race, particularly Dr. Gbenga Hashim, knowing fully well that he has built a formidable structure across the states and a network of supporters across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria. He is well known, well educated, experienced, and above all, cannot be bought”.

The GHSM warned that shutting the door against very prominent aspirants such as Dr. Gbenga Hashim may not only jeopardize the party’s chances in 2027 but could also result in the party not having a Presidential candidate because of possible disqualification by the court of competent jurisdiction.

The group opined that the PDP NEC lacks the legal authority to restrict elective offices to any region, as this contravenes the provision of the PDP constitution and the constitution of Nigeria, which does not support any form of discrimination against any citizen based on ethnicity, creed, religion, sex, or political opinion.

The group’s spokesperson said that, in an attempt to compensate the Yorubas for the unjust annulment of the June 12, 1993, Presidential Election, which eventually led to the death of the winner of the said election, Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola, in 1999, the PDP did not zone its presidential ticket to the South.