Nigerians have called on the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) to zone its presidency to the South as against making it open to every part of the country.
A lecturer in the department of Linguistics and Communication Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Dr. Sunny Mbazie, said for the nation to move forward and give different sections of the country a sense of belonging, power should rotate between north and south.
He said his fear was on whether All Progressives Congress(APC) would oblige.
He further said now that APC had obliged, PDP which has in its constitution rotation of power, should make it possible for power to rotate to the South by presenting a southern candidate.
The varsity don said this was not new as it had happened in 1999 when Olu Falae and Olusegun Obasanjo contested and a southerner became the president.
In the same vein, Chief E.K Clark also has commended President Muhammadu Buhari and APC for zoning the party’s presidential ticket to the South and urged PDP to do the same.
Clark’s commendation was contained in a statement issued on Wednesday and signed by him.
The statement read; “I wish to commend Mr. President, His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, and his political party, the All Progressives’ Congress (APC), for zoning their Presidential Ticket to the southern part of the country.
“This is in line with equity and fair play, and is in tandem with the desire and aspiration of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF), a group made up of the South-East, South-South, South-West and the Middle Belt, of which I am the Leader.
“I recall that part of what was contained in the Communique issued at the end of our last meeting held only a few weeks ago, was the reiteration of the fact that we will only support any party that gives its presidential ticket to the southern part of the country in line with equity and fairness. Therefore, I am pleased to note that our aspiration, which we have echoed time and time again, resonates with the APC.
“I wish to also use this medium to call on the major opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to be equally fair, and to listen to the yearning voice of equity and fair play by zoning its presidential ticket to the southern part of the country; while emphasising that our support will only go to a party that bequeaths fairness and equity.
“I wish to also thank our northern patriots who have also made statements in support of the south producing the president of the country, come 2023”.
