A political support group, the Justice and Equity Group (JEG), has advised the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to make its 2023 presidential ticket open to all geo-political zones.

This, the group said, would enable the emergence of best candidate who can win the election for the party.

The group gave the advice in a statement by its Chairman and former Deputy Majority Whip of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Muktar in Abuja on Wednesday.

It stated that this was in response to recent statement by former Commissioner for Information for Edo, Kassim Afegbua, who advised PDP to zone it ticket to the south

He also advised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to jettison his presidential ambition and support the south.

The group said in the interest of fairness and justice the north zone should be allowed to contest for the party presidential ticket.

It stated that the presidency of the nation, under the PDP administration, had remained in the South for a total of 14 years, when former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr Goodluck Jonathan were in power, while the North, under late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua only had it for two years.

It said that it would be in the PDP greater interest to abide by the earlier decision of its National Executive Committee that threw open the presidential ticket of PDP to all zones.

The group said that it would be undemocratic to ask a qualified Nigerian not to contest for Presidency.

“We think that in the greater interest of the PDP, we should abide by the earlier PDP National Executive Committee decision that threw open the presidential ticket of PDP to all zones.

“Let the best candidate that can win the election for the PDP and change the terrible mess APC has turned Nigeria into, to emerge”, it said.

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The group said that while it was undemocratic to ask a qualified Nigerian not to contest for Presidency, it agreed that Abubakar had his time and opportunities.

It added that though Abubakar was presented PDP ticket in 2018/2019 as the only one with the capacity to beat President Buhari, the chance did not materialised.

He said that while there may be contestation on the age of Abubakar in 2023, there were many other qualified persons from the north that could contest for the party’s ticket along the south.

“It should be noted that Obasanjo from the South contested against General Buhari from the North. Nobody mentioned that it was the turn of the North or South, because different parties are governed by their own interests.

“The PDP should be governed by permutations that will give it victory.

“A blanket ban on any region from contesting for presidency under PDP is manifestly and patently unreasonable, unjust, unfair and contrary to natural justice. It is wrong and will not fly in a democracy.

“As a matter of fact the North has better claims to the PDP ticket than the South in 2023”, the group said.

The group disagreed, fundamentally, with Afegbua’s position that ‘it will be against the run of play and natural justice for any aspirant of Northern extraction to show interest in the 2023 presidential election within the PDP threshold,’ saying, “nothing can be further from the truth’.

“Politics in Nigeria, under the 1999 Constitution, is played by political Parties, not interest groups, geopolitical groups or even individuals.

“It is political parties that can field candidates. Nigeria as an entity cannot field a candidate. The North or South cannot field a candidate too.

“It is disingenuous for anyone to mix up the fortunes and tactics of the political parties.

“In the APC, President Buhari from the North is about to complete 8 years, so it is perfectly normal for APC to look for a candidate from the Southern part of the country to fly its flag in 2023.

“The matter is not the same in PDP , which is a distinct political party, governed by its rules and traditions. In PDP, under its constitution the principle of zoning and rotation is respected.

“President Obasanjo from the South held office as President for 8 years. By an accident of history, President Goodluck Jonathan from the South has also held the office of President for 6 years.

“This is a cumulative period of 14 years that the Presidency of Nigeria under PDP has been domiciled in the South.

“The Northern part of Nigeria has held the Presidency of Nigeria under PDP for less than three years under President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

“So, where is the justice, equity and fairness in the demand that the PDP should chose their presidential candidate from the South?

“It makes no political sense and no amount of propaganda can change the facts. PDP is not APC. PDP members should not be confused with the politics of APC”, the group stated.(NAN)