A former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim has accentuated the pitfall in the party zoning its presidential ticket to Southern Nigeria warning that it risks not having a candidate for the presidential election in 2027 because of its unconstitutionality.
Olawepo-Hashim, 56, who still has his eyes on the presidency, cautioned that any party member who is interested could go to court to seek redress for being shut out by the zoning policy and “the party’s candidate can be struck down”.
Faulting the zoning policy announced on Monday at its 102nd National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja, Olawepo-Hashim told Channels Television in an interview on Politics Today, on Monday night that zoning the PDP ticket to the South as being championed by some members who have openly declared that they would work for the re-election of President Tinubu, “is a default campaign for the PDP not to have a viable candidate by those people”.
Newsmata.com.ng reports that the presidential hopeful, who described a zoning policy in the PDP as unprecedented, said it’s a signal to northerners in the party to seek their political fortunes elsewhere.
Though he admitted that the processes that led to the zoning was democratic, and members of the NEC competent to have so acted, he however insisted that the decision was “a big error”.
According to him, “This is what the PDP has always been from when it was founded. It’s a party that will always debate fiercely internally and at the end of the day, a decision will be taken. Now, that does not mean that when decisions are taken by organs of the party, they are decisions which cannot be faulted.
“What has happened today, as you said, is unprecedented. The PDP has never zoned presidency before. In 1999, President of (Olusegun) Obasanjo, he was then General Obasanjo, contested against Alhaji Rimi from Northern Nigeria and some other candidates, Dr Alex Ekwueme, etc in 2003 as a sitting president in the Villa. President Obasanjo had to contest again with Chief Barnabas Gemade from Benue, Alhaji Rimi from Kano, Dr. Ekwueme again.
“The party never shut the door against any zone. There would always be agitation that it should come from this section or others. Then the caucus leaders will use their control over the delegates to influence their preference. But the party has never done what was done today by the NEC of PDP, and I say it’s really unprecedented”.
On the implication for members who are in the PDP, a major player in Nigeria’s private sector, said, “Well, it means that if you are a northerner, you find another party. That’s what it means”.
Contending that it’s not all about him, he noted that “Past leaders of the PDP, even when they preferred a certain president from a certain section of the country to emerge, they would rather use their votes at the convention to speak for them. But they will never shut the door against any region. They know the implication that they are going to polarise the polity. They are going to pitch one region against the others. So, they always avoided this because they knew the implication of this on the unity of the country.
“So, I believe that NEC has made a big error. I’m not saying that they didn’t do it well. They did it by majority. It was quite democratic. All the organs of the party decided, but they made a big error because the Constitution of Nigeria does not allow you to discriminate against a party member when it comes to elective position on account of where he comes from. It’s a major constitutionality.
“Even if I’m not contesting, any party member who is interested can go to court and say I was shot out by this zoning policy and on account of that, the party’s candidate can be struck down”.
Faulting the notion that the NEC settled for zoning to the South because of its experience in 2023 when five governors pulled out of the campaign over their grievances in retaining the ticket in the North after late President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight years, the PDP chieftain argued that the history of the PDP did not start in 2023.
“The first disaster was in 2014 when Jonathan said he will be the only sole candidate; nobody should come from other zones, and then the other people from the other zones walked out of the party and the PDP lost power, even as a sitting president.
“So, you cannot start the history of the PDP in our politics from when some G5 people think they hold the ace.
“Let me tell you, this is my own position. The Zone-the presidency-to-the-South is a default campaign for return of President Asiwaju (Bola Tinubu), because those who are mounting this campaign of zoning to the South are the same people who are saying we are in PDP, but we will work for President Asiwaju. Look at all of them; almost all of them. The same people who say, oh, we’re in PDP but we are committed to President Asiwaju’s re-election, and I’m saying it’s a default campaign for the PDP not to have a viable candidate by those people”.
While stating that he would not dissipate energy on the claim by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, that the NEC decision had vindicated him, Olawepo-Hashim said, “I’ll just want to look at what has happened to us in Nigeria’s history because we have travelled this road before”.
Going down memory lane, he said, “Abacha created five parties. And all the five parties adopted Abacha. So, did Abacha become president? He died in office”.
Citing another instance, the business mogul said he thought we have passed this kind of stage.
Taking a swipe at the Tinubu administration, Olawepo-Hashim stated that “You know when people are not doing well in government, and they are paranoid about retaining power, they don’t even want any kind of election because they cannot even trust that they can rig it successfully. They would rather that nobody is contesting against them; that they are the only candidate”.
On whether PDP’s decision was linked to the APC government of today, Olawepo-Hashim said, “Well, I’m addressing your question. Your question is simply Mr. Wike saying that he has been vindicated. And all he’s been saying is that he’s going to re-elect President Tinubu, so you can connect the dots together.
“But I believe that the PDP’s internal machinery has a self-correcting mechanism. Just like Minister Wike said, he’s been vindicated. Oh, this is what they wanted. Now, the party has done it. Maybe tomorrow, the party may not do what he wants if we have another NEC composition or another National Convention, and another executive comes in, so we wait and see. We’ll see how all this ends. 2027 is a long time”.