2023 Presidency: Bode George Cautions PDP Concerning Move To Destroy Zoning

Posted by Nwa Diokpa Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria Monday, March 21st, 2022

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has been cautioned against abandoning its 2023 presidential ticket open for all members to contest.
A chieftain of the party in the South West, Bode George, stated that it was necessary to make sure that such a position is zoned to a particular region.
Bode George, who spoke against the backdrop of the controversy surrounding the zoning of the PDP’s presidential ticket, as activities is geared up ahead of next year’s polls.
African Examiner writes that aspirants from the North believe that they should be given the opportunity so that they can test their political popularity in the party’s primary, but their southern colleagues believe it is solely their turn.
“It is mandatory, it is legitimate for the party to say yes, this is zoned to the South or to the North; but to leave it wide open is combustible,” George told Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
George, a member of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), stated that the party should zone its ticket to the South.
He said: “Whatever has been in the North after eight years must come to the South; whatever has been in the South for the last eight years must go to the North.
“I am watching now as an engineer, there is a political equation; when they conceptualized this idea, nobody in their wildest dream thought there could be another political party that could produce the president.
“When you now say you want to throw it (zoning) away, are you telling Nigerians that it is only in certain parts of the country that you have people who have the competence or the courage to rule Nigeria? How can there be peace?”
“Are you saying we don’t have anybody in the southern part? What we are telling people [is that] we have no right as a party to tell any individual [that] you cannot contest, because it will be illegal.”