By Ben Ogbemudia
Controversy has trailed the decision of the National Executive Committee of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to throw open its 2023 presidential ticket to all geopolitical zones of the country.

The PDP, through its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, disclosed at the end of the NEC meeting late Wednesday that the decision to throw open the ticket was in line with the recommendation made by the party’s zoning committee.

The 37-member committee headed by the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, was set up by the party in March and asked to make recommendations on a zoning formula for the various electoral offices ahead of the 2023 elections.

Some members of the panel had earlier hinted after submitting its report that it asked the party to throw open the presidential ticket, but Ortom dismissed the media reports.

The party’s decision on zoning comes amid calls and expectations that it would zone the presidential ticket to the south ahead of next year’s elections.

Coming hard on the party, a chieftain of the party, Prince Kassim Afegbua, yesterday said the decision of the National Working Committee to throw open the presidential contest did not come as a surprise.

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He accused the Senator Iyorchia Ayu-led executive of working towards the realisation of Atiku Abubakar’s presidential ambition from the inauguration.

Afegbua said Ayu had not shown enough political will to take charge of opposition politics in Nigeria, especially his alleged return of N405m to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).

He described the non-zoning of offices in the PDP as a deliberate ploy to foist Atiku on the party.

Afegbua said, “The outcome of the meeting of the National Executive Committee on zoning did not come as a surprise because I knew from day one that Dr Iyorchia Ayu-led executives were working from the answer to the question because of pecuniary interest.

“When you have a National Chairman who reportedly returned N405m to the EFCC, you can’t trust such a person let alone allow him to take charge of opposition politics at such a delicate time in the history of Nigeria.

“Ayu’s first major assignment of following the dictates of the party constitution has ended up in abysmal failure. How do you jettison your constitutional provisions because you want to plot the ticket of the party for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar?

”It is obvious that Ayu is pretentiously working for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and in the process trying to upturn the zoning arrangement. How do you reconcile the hypocrisy in asking the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefele to resign because you feel he didn’t respect the CBN Act when you have also jettisoned the party’s constitution? Such double-standard posturing!

“Nigerian democracy has a long way to go because people are never honest and altruistic. Due to corruption, some will even forget their names or where they come from.

“For jettisoning zoning, PDP will pay dearly for it someday. It may not be now, but certainly later. Give us the wrong candidate, and you all will see how Nigerians will return APC to power. The injustice of this nature cannot endure the test of time.

“You cannot deny the South an opportunity to have their turn simply because you have someone somewhere beating the drum for you.

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“You have the National Chairman in the North, yet you are plotting to have the party’s candidate from the North, making the Southern axis of the country mere spectators or what? Ayu is a huge disappointment.”

It was also reported in one of the national dailies that the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has also registered his displeasure with the Ayu-led NWC over the development.

He accused Ayu of denying Rivers State a slot in the panel.

The source reportedly told the national daily that “Wike is very angry and he has made this known. He confronted the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, who stood in as guarantor for Ayu at the time he was elected.

“He told Ortom, ‘You brought this man, see what he is doing?’ It was a serious oversight but Wike does not see it that way. And you can’t ignore his concerns because how do you explain the presence of representatives from Sokoto, Kwara, and other states where other presidential aspirants come from?

How else can you explain the absence of a representative from Rivers State which bears the golden egg? As far as he is concerned, the party chairman, who is a known ally of Atiku, may be playing a dangerous game.”