Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Celebration (PDP), has faulted the occasion’s determination to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South, saying the transfer was a refined endorsement of President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.
Olawepo-Hashim mentioned this whereas talking on Channels Tv’s Politics In the present day shortly after the PDP Nationwide Govt Committee (NEC) assembly in Abuja on Monday.
He described the zoning determination as “unprecedented” within the occasion’s historical past.
“Zoning the presidency to the South is a default marketing campaign for the return of President Bola Tinubu as a result of those that are mounting this marketing campaign of zoning to the South are the identical people who find themselves saying we’re in PDP, however we work for President Tinubu,” he mentioned.
In response to him, the NEC’s decision successfully shuts out potential candidates from different areas, thereby undermining the PDP’s potential to area a aggressive flagbearer.
“It’s a default marketing campaign for the PDP to not have a viable candidate by these individuals. So it is a refined marketing campaign for a straightforward journey of Bola Tinubu’s re-election,” he mentioned.
Olawepo-Hashim insisted that the PDP had by no means barred any area from contesting the presidency.
Citing historic precedents, he recalled that “The PDP has by no means zoned the presidency earlier than. In 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was then Basic Obasanjo, contested towards Alhaji Rimi from Northern Nigeria and another candidates, Dr Alex Ekwueme, and so on.
“In 2003, as a sitting president within the villa, President Obasanjo needed to contest once more with Chief Barnabas Gemade from Benue, Alhaji Rimi from Kano. The occasion by no means shut the door towards any zone.”
Whereas acknowledging that the NEC determination was reached democratically, he maintained it was a “huge error.”
He mentioned, “I’m not saying that they didn’t do it by majority. They did it by a majority. It was fairly democratic. All of the organs of the occasion determined. However it made an enormous error.”
Olawepo-Hashim additionally warned that the zoning coverage might set off a constitutional disaster, arguing that it violates the Nigerian Structure.
“The structure of Nigeria doesn’t can help you discriminate towards a celebration member in terms of an elective place on account of the place he comes from,” he cautioned.
“Any occasion member who’s can go to courtroom and say, I used to be shut out by the zoning coverage. And on account of that, the occasion candidate may be struck down.”
Regardless of his criticism, he expressed confidence that the PDP might reverse the choice, noting that the occasion has a “self-correcting mechanism.”
He cited previous cases the place controversial NEC resolutions had been overturned at nationwide conventions.
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