PDP NEVER ZONED PRESIDENCY - JONATHAN

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan on Monday spoke on controversies over the issue of zoning, averring that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) never zoned the presidency to any part of Nigeria, contrary to claims.

He made the remarks in dismissal of claims by some northern leaders that he should respect the principle of zoning as laid down by the ruling party, and which currently favours the North.

Jonathan said no political party had absolute control over zoning, adding that zoning of political offices was usually done after the emergence of president and vice-president, governors and deputy governors.

The president said the PDP had only been zoning elective offices it had control over after every election.

Jonathan, speaking after the submission of interest and nomination forms, also dismissed the allegation that he had been using the state funds to bankroll his political programmes, saying that the accusation was baseless.

He said the Nigerian electoral law frowned on such excesses.

“I am a serving president. Most of my governors are facing the same accusation. The fact is that you cannot use state funds to run campaign. All over the world, we have an electoral law which stipulates how much an individual can spend at elections.

“I have never used public funds to run my campaigns. At the appropriate time, I will publish the details of my campaign funds,” Jonathan said.

He was accompanied to the PDP secretariat by nine governors, including Sulli-van Chime (Enugu); Ikedi Ohakim (Imo); Adebayo Alao-Akala (Oyo); Ibrahim Shema (Katsina); Segun Oni (Ekiti) and Isa Yuguda (Bauchi).

Other governors in his entourage included Liyel Imoke, (Cross Rivers); Akwe Doma (Nasarawa) and Dambaba Suntai (Taraba).

He was also accompanied by Alhaji Bamanga Tukur; Alhaji Dalhatu Sarkin Tafida; Chief Barnabas Gemade; Chief Ahmadu Ali; Mrs Josephine Anenih; Alhaji Adamu Maina Waziri; Alhaji Saidu Sambawa and Chief Tony Anenih.

Jonathan made his views on zoning known, just as the PDP national chairman, Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo, urged him to prepare for a tough presidential contest in 2011.

Nwodo hinged the anticipated tough presidential contest on the calibre of aspirants who had submitted their expression of interest and nomination forms.

The chairman confirmed to President Jonathan that so far, four aspirants, including General Ibrahim Babangida, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, General Aliyu Gusau and Dr Olusola Saraki, had submitted their forms.

Nwodo described the four presidential aspirants as heavyweights, a reason he said the president must brace up to square it up with them, since, according to him, the PDP had resolved to produce the next president in 2011.

Addressing the media on zoning, Jonathan said the standard and nature of power rotation was established in 2002 by the PDP, recalling that zoning of elective offices was done specifically in 2007 after the emergence of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

“In 2007, after emerging with the late President Yar’Adua, we all sat down at the Legacy House to determine zoning.

“Ahmadu Ali, the then PDP national chairman; former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Tony Anenih and Chief Ojo Maduekwe were there.

“Then we had gotten a president from the North, a vice-president from the South-South. Where do we place the next chairman of the party? We said it had to go to the South-East; Senate President, North-Central and we zoned all the offices,” he said.

The president said the nature of zoning in PDP was further expressed with the removal of Honourable Patricia Olubunmi Etteh as Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2007 and her replacement with Dimeji Bankole from the same South-West where she hailed from.

Jonathan drew similar allusion to the replacement of Prince Vincent Ogbulafor with Dr Nwodo as the PDP chairman, when the latter left the office on allegation of corruption.

“The issue you asked about zoning. This is the first time I have to comment on it. I have decided to talk about it, but, at the appropriate time, you will know a little more. But, either by virtue of the PDP constitution, or in practice, the presidency of Nigeria has never been zoned to any part of the country.

“If we will read that section of the constitution on issue of zoning, PDP does not zone the presidency, but PDP zones offices they have absolute control or reasonable control over.

“But, before you zone those offices, the president and the vice-president would have first emerged. I am saying this because I was involved,” he said.

Jonathan added that “the concept of zoning has been in the PDP from inception. We have the PDP 1999 constitution and if you ask the chairman, he will give you. This is the very first constitution and the zoning concept is there, but not expressly stated.”

According to Jonahan, in 2001 constitution, Article 7(2)(c) said: “In pursuance of the principles of equity, justice and fairness, the party shall adhere to the policy of rotation and zoning of party and public elective offices and it shall be enforced by the appropriate executive committee at all levels, from councillor to presidency.”

He cited the example of Kwara State, saying that “In Kwara State, you see that Saraki is leaving, because the Nigerian constitution allows for two tenure, but, of course, the younger sister is contesting. If the party has zoned the position, definitely, somebody from that senatorial district cannot contest, except the younger sister is from a different senatorial district.

“If you look at the situation in Bayelsa State, you know my history. I am form Bras senatorial district. I took over to finish Alami-eyeseigha’s tenure, just like it has happened at the federal level. I was to go back and contest and the party had no objection. I even got the party ticket after the primaries. But because I was now drafted to contest the vice-presidency seat, the party set up a committee, Dr Ali is here and gave Timipreye Sylva, who is from my senatorial district.

“The party would have said, no, no, it had to go back, may be to the Central senatorial district, where Alami-eyeseigha comes from.

“It is when a governor, deputy governor emerge, or chairman or the vice chairman of the council emerge and, at the national level, when the president and the vice-president emerge, then you now zone other offices. And immediately that zoning is done, any replacement has to come from that zone.”

He said whenever the people talking about zoning came around, they should be asked about their political interests in 2003 and 2007, especially if they were fellow aspirants like him.

Meanwhile, former Vice-President Abubakar has said President Jonathan’s claim that zoning does not exist is ludicrous.

The former vice president said the principle of zoning and rotation of power was the very foundation upon which the PDP was built as a party.

“It is either President Jonathan is not a member of the PDP or is living in denial of the same principle of zoning, which saw his emergence as vice-president in 2007,” he said.

He promised to mail a copy of the PDP constitution to the president.

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