By Waliu Akintunde
By 2023, President Mohammadu Buhari from the North-West will conclude his two terms of eight years.
It is most likely that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will pick its presidential candidate from the South. Should this happens, what should be the position of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)?
PDP will have no option than to pick its candidate from the South too. If it does not, the party will most probably lose sympathy of the South that it presently controls.
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Assuming that in 2023, APC picks its candidate from the South.
PDP picks candidate from the North to satisfy the proponents of “Maintain status quo” by retaining National Chairman in the South and President in the North.
Let us also assume that PDP wins the presidency and the winner spends two terms of eight years.
In 2031, PDP will move down south to pick its presidential candidate while northern leaders in the APC will argue (just as it is being done in PDP now) that the candidate should come from the North, since the South had the candidate in 2023 and 2027.
And if the APC candidate wins and spends say two terms too, in another eight years, the same scenario is repeated, won’t the presidency be in the North perpetually?
In my opinion, zoning should not be limited to who gets what in a particular political party. Rather, it should be about who gets what in the entire country.
What’s then the way out for the PDP?
First, the party must have to keep the APC guessing as to where its presidential pendulum will swing, by sustaining its tradition of moving party positions in the North to the South and those in the South to the North.
By so doing, the PDP, being an opposition party will avoid this political banana peel of zoning before the APC comes out with its own direction.
To also be on a safe side, the party can announce that it will throw the presidential slot open to the entire country, so that competent hands across the country can contest. After all, even in 2015, APC did not restrict its presidential ticket to the North, Rochas Okorocha (from South East) contested and had 624 votes.
By and large, those insisting that the National Chairman should go to the North, since the South has already taken its slot with Prince Uche Secondus, are right and are supported by Section 7 (3c) of the party’s 2017 Constitution (as amended).
In 2012, the North took the Chairmanship and after four years, the position returned to the South. It is therefore natural that the Chairmanship position returns to the North after four years.
If PDP wins the presidency in 2023, there can then be readjustment of the national chairmanship in consideration of the zone that produces the president.
As at now, what is on the table is the issue of National Officers of the party, the presidency will only come into consideration when PDP wins. After all, as at 2007 that Umar Musa Yar’Adua became president, the National Chairman of PDP was Ahmadu Ali (from North Central). He left office in 2008 to pave way for Vincent Ogbulafor (from South East).
A smart opposition party keeps the ruling party guessing and that is what PDP should do at this time.
Akintunde, a public analyst lives in Ibadan, Oyo State
