Ahead of the forthcoming primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State has urged that the party’s presidential ticket be zoned to the North, for fairness.
Tambuwal, who is one of the presidential aspirants of PDP, made the appeal on Tuesday in Lafia during a consultation visit to the Nasarawa Chapter of the party.
The PDP presidential aspirant said out of the 16 years the party was in power, the South alone under Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan did close to 14 years.
He explained that Umaru Yar’Adua from the North did not spend more than two years before power retuned to the South.
“In the interest of fairness, the presidential ticket should be zoned to the North.
“Out of the six presidential candidates the PDP fielded from 1999, four were from the South and only two are from the North,” he added.
He said the situation in the PDP was different and so nobody should use what happened in other parties to decide what should happen in the PDP.
Tambuwal, however, pointed out that zoning should not be the only yardstick to decide the flag bearer of the party in 2023.
The Sokoto State governor added that though he was contesting for president, it was about rescuing the nation and not just about himself.
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He said he was not even concerned about the zoning arrangement but about the PDP winning election in 2023.
He added that himself and others were working towards having a consensus candidate like the APC did during their national convention that produced the national Chairman.
He said that he had the experience to turn the PDP around put it on the path of development, if elected President.
Similarly, Chief Ayim Pius Ayim, former Senate President who is also contesting for President under PDP called on Nasarawa delegates to vote for a South Easterner.
Ayim said it was only right for the PDP to zone its presidential ticket to South-East to give the people a sense of belonging.
Earlier, Francis Orogu, PDP Chair in Nasarawa had welcomed the two aspirants who visited separately.
The Nasarawa PDP Chairman assured them that the party was also consulting and would take a decision at the right time.