Former presidential spokesman, Dr. Doyin Okupe, has put the leadership of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to task over the possibility of zoning the party’s presidential ticket to the north ahead of the 2023 election.
He revealed this through a press release which was issued on the 4th of September,2021 where he tasked the leadership of the People Democratic Party (PDP) to ensure that the Presidential Candidate for the next Presidential Election in Nigeria.
According to him,”This is not as a result of just hate or disguised guile but rather is a consideration based on sense of equity and fairness and definitely in the larger overall consideration for the unity of the country,”
“To zone the presidency to the north and disenfranchise the political interest, aspirations and avowed and openly canvassed political position of the entire leadership of the southern part of the country, will be insensitive , unjust, inequitable and a total subjugation of the principle of fairness and justice.” he stated
He also explained that If the PDP cannot zone the presidency to the south then it must make the contest for the presidency at the nomination convention open to all its members no matter what part of the country they come from.
Okupe further debunked the idea that voters in the north are easily swayed by consideration for one of their own, a notion he said was “outright fallacy’.
He buttressed his view with the 1993 presidential election in which the late MKO Abiola won elections in northern states even though he contested against a northern candidate.
“The PDP must not seek power as an opportunistic political party that believes in pursuit of power at any or all costs. But we must seek power still respecting the aspirations and genuine desires of the federating component units of this country”, he stated.