The Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the 2019 elections, Peter Obi, has adduced reasons whey the zone from which the party’s National Chairman comes may not determine the zone that will produce its presidential candidate.
The Eagle Online recalls that the party has scheduled its National Convention to elect a National Chairman for October 30, 2021.
Obi, who spoke on Arise TV on Monday over speculations that if the chairmanship of the party goes to the South, the zone would not be given the opportunity to produce the presidential candidate in 2023, said things would be different.
He said: “I cannot speak on what the zoning committee is going to do, but let me assure you that even in the discussions that we have had in various meetings, I do not see the zoning of the chairmanship as a determinant that the other zone would produce the presidential candidate.
“Everybody today knows that things are not what they should be in Nigeria and we have to get it right in 2023.
“If we get it wrong in 2023, it would be very bad for the country.
“So, we have to get it right.
“We must look for competence and someone who has capacity in the knowledge of what it means to serve or lead this country.
“We are on the wrong road and we cannot continue this journey on this road.
“So, if the chairman comes from one zone, it would not stop people from the other zone from contesting.
“We are dealing with something that can be moved from one zone to the other.
“I can tell you that 2023 would be totally different because everybody is struggling to make sure that we do not get it wrong.
“I cannot determine where the zoning would go but we would wait and see, then we would look into it.
“In the event that the PDP zones to the North, I cannot speak for any state in the South East on how they would vote, but I know that the southern governors have said the presidency should go to the South and that includes the South East.
“The South East as a zone has said it wants inclusion in Nigeria to show that it is part of it.
“The demand of the South East is genuine and compelling but we would have to watch what would happen.
“We have to consult, negotiate and make people understand what the issues are.”
