Barring all previous contests against the zoning formula of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the party has zoned its national chairmanship to the North East, a development which might pave way for the emergence of the the current chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sherrif, The Union reports.
The zoning arrangement was finally concluded Thursday, April 28, 2016 by the national working committee of the party as the congress comes up May 21, 2016. The zoning arrangement, political watchers belief may have ended the battle and scheming of Sheriff to emerge substantive chairman of the party.
Chairman of the zoning committee, Mr. Emmanuel Udom, Governor of Akwa Ibom State, approved the zoning arrangement which retained the chairmanship of the party in the North East of the country.
Senator Sherrif is completing the tenure of the Northeast which became vacant following resignation of the party’s former chairman, Dr. Adamu Muazu in the aftermath of his failure to lead the party to victory in the 2015 general elections.
Although he has been scheming to be retained as chairman of the party, Senator Sheriff told journalists that at the Wadata Plaza, national headquarters of the party that contesting for the chairmanship is his personal decision, noting that when he makes up his mind he will brief journalists.
Sheriff, who announced the decision of NEC without details of the zoning said NEC would meet again on the May 11 to decide on the recommendations on constitution review.
“We will meet again on the 11 of May to do the constitution review,” he said adding that congress will start from Saturday and end with the National convention on May 21.
Deputy senate president and leader of the party, Ike Ekweremadu, Gombe state governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo, and chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, called on all members of the party to be bound by the decisions in spite of disagreements, where such exist.
According to Ekweremadu, PDP is the only party in Nigeria that can be said to belong to everyone and belongs to no one even as he called on members of the party to know that “the time is now for us to make sacrifices, the time is now for us to make compromise so that the party will remain strong, so that Nigeria will be able to trust us again in 2019.”
