The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), South-West Zone, on Tuesday insisted
that Nigeria’s next president should emerge from the Southern part of
the country.
The party, at an extended zonal caucus meeting held at
the Oyo State Government House, Agodi, Ibadan, said that it was in
support of the position of the Southern Governors’ Forum that Southern
Nigeria should produce the next president.
This was as the party
reaffirmed its call for the restructuring of Nigeria, stating that it
will support all efforts geared towards national cohesion through
equitable distribution of federal positions and appointments among the
geopolitical zones of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
According to a
communique read by the party’s National Vice Chairman, South-West, Hon.
Olasoji Adagunodo, the party has resolved that the unity of its members
in the zone is non-negotiable and that all mechanisms for dispute
resolutions must be on the front burner.
The party equally resolved to do everything within its power lawfully to win the forthcoming elections in Osun and Ekiti states.
A
statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Makinde, Mr.
Taiwo Adisa, indicated that the governor, who is the leader of the party
in the South-West, was commended by the caucus for his infrastructure
development strides and his efforts in repositioning the PDP across
states of the zone.
In his keynote speech, Governor Makinde called on
all members of the party to de-emphasise whatever issues they have with
individuals and unite in the interest of the party both at the zonal
and national levels, as according to him, the South-West zone remained
critical to the success of the PDP in the country.
He said: “We are
in the election season already. The timetable is out and candidates for
various positions will emerge within the next eight to nine weeks. And
as PDP South-West zone, what position are we presenting?
“We know
that if South-West and Yorubaland is not peaceful, things would not also
be settled nationally. “That is just the fact. We have also gone
through the path that, because of disunity, we were left out in the
scheme of things.
“When the founding fathers of this party came
together, they spoke about fairness, equity, justice and they decided
that the six major positions nationally must be shared among the six
zones of Nigeria. That has always been the case until 2011. Because of
the in-fighting, disunity, the South-West did not have a single position
out of the six national positions.
“For the avoidance of doubt, I
can list those six positions. In 2011, the president did not come from
the South-West but South South. The vice-president did not come from the
South-West but North-West.
“The Senate President came from the
North-Central. The Speaker of the House of Representatives went to the
North-West, while the Secretary to the Government of the Federation slot
also went to the South-East. The Chairman of the party went to the
North-East.
“That was how we lost all completely and we don’t want to
walk through that path again. It has happened to us before and we don’t
want it to happen again.
“But the only way it won’t happen again is
for us to unite and de-emphasize whatever issues we have with ourselves
individually. “We must come together to tell ourselves what we are going
to demand nationally.”
Governor Makinde maintained that though the
South-West PDP had three opportunities through the off-season elections
in Ondo, Ekiti and Osun for the governorship seats, in-fighting has
already made it lose in Ondo State.
“Ondo State governorship election
is coming back in another two years. But before then, we have the Ekiti
governorship election coming up. We thank God that we have been able to
get everybody together but there is still a lot of work to be done, if
Ekiti will not go the way of Ondo.
“I do pray because I know we have
another opportunity to support our candidate in Ekiti State, so that in
two months plus, we will have a governor-elect in the state.
“We also
have Osun State, which practically is in a difficult situation. They
have issues from the governorship primary, which is not supposed to be.
South-West is known as the zone to provide leadership for this country.
“Truth
is, we are going to be the ultimate losers and what happened in the
past will happen again if we don’t get our acts together.
“I make
bold to say that those aspiring for the presidency and are using our
people against us, there are only two and a half months left. You can
force yourself to win the party’s primary but can you force yourself on
the populace?
“This is an opportunity for us to recalibrate and have a
common position, moving forward in the national engagement with the
unfolding scenario nationally.”
Reading the communique at the end of
the meeting, Adagunodo said: “The unity of the PDP South-West Zone is a
non-negotiable issue, to this end, we demand that all dispute resolution
mechanisms should be on the front burner.
“The PDP South-West Zone
is in support of the Southern Governors’ Forum that the next president
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should come from the south.
“The
Zone commends the only PDP Governor in the zone, Engr. Seyi Makinde of
Oyo State, for his infrastructural and development strides in the zone.
“The
Zone has agreed that we should do everything possible within our power
to deliver Osun and Ekiti states to the party in their forthcoming
offseason governorship elections.
“The Zone is desirous of fairness,
justice, and equity in the distribution of Federal positions and
appointments and will support all efforts geared towards national
cohesion through equitable distribution of federal positions and
appointments amongst the geopolitical zones of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria.
“The South-West Zone reaffirms its position on restructuring of Nigeria.”
The
meeting had in attendance the former Deputy National Chairman of the
PDP, Chief Olabode George; former Governors Olagunsoye Oyinlola,
Olusegun Mimiko and Ayodele Fayose of Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states
respectively; serving and former National Assembly members; former
deputy governors.
Others were the PDP Deputy National Chairman
(South), Ambassador Oladejo Arapaja; former governorship candidates of
the PDP in Ogun and Ekiti states, Hon. Ladi Adebutu and Prof. Olusola
Eleka Kolapo and other former and serving PDP leaders at the national
level.
