Tension In PDP Over New Zoning Plan, Stakeholders Move Against Govs

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is presently tension-soaked over the new zoning arrangement few days to its national convention slated for Oc­tober 30.

Recall that last week Thurs­day, the zoning committee of the party led by the governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ug­wuanyi, zoned the national chairman slot of the party to the North.

The committee had in its communiqué said: “That zoning of offices in PDP has traditionally been between the North and South of Nigeria.

“The decision of the PDP Zoning Committee is in line with the constitution of the party on zoning and rotation of party and national offices in the interest of justice, equity, and fairness. Consequently, the current offic­es being held by officers in the Southern zones of the country, namely, South-West, South-East and South-South zones, should swap places with the offices cur­rently in the northern zones of Nigeria, namely, North-West, North-East, and North-Central zones.”

This zoning arrangement announced by the Ugwuanyi-led committee, has, however, drew the ire of some party members, who believe that the decision of the committee was the agenda of the governors because the committee’s position was a total endorsement of an earlier decision at a meeting of the governors on Wednesday night.

Specifically, the caucus of the party at the National Assembly, the Forum of Former Governors as well as many other prominent leaders in the North are not hap­py with the zoning arrangement allegedly imposed on the commit­tee by the governors.

It was learnt that some aggrieved members of the part-year threatening to protest against the zoning arrangement at the 94th meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), scheduled to hold on Thursday.

A source in PDP threw more light on why some members of the party are angry against the zoning arrangement allegedly imposed on the committee by the governors.

The source said that the gover­nors are using it to achieve their earlier plan to prevent serving members of the National Work­ing Committee (NWC) from seeking re-election in the October 30 convention.

Citing section 47(1) of the con­stitution of the PDP, the source disclosed that should NEC endorse the zoning formula as pro­posed by the Ugwuanyi commit­tee, it may prepare grounds for fresh litigation that may affect the holding of the convention.

According to section 47(1) of the PDP constitution, “Allnation­al, zonal, state, local government area and ward officers of the par­ty shall hold office for a term of four years and shall be eligible for re-election for another term and no more.”

The source added that “what the governors a retrying to do is a serious breach of PDP’s constitution, which guarantees the right to seek re-election for every serv­ing member of the NWC. They raised this tone of the meetings of NEC but was seriously op­posed and defeated.

“By suggesting that NWC positions currently held by persons from the North be swapped for positions in the South, they have automatically prevented all serv­ing NWC members from seeking re-election! For instance, what if the serving national chairman wants to seek re-election to the same position? What if the serv­ing national organising secre­tary wants to seek re-election to the same position? You will dis­cover that these persons can’t do so because their positions have been taken away from their zones.”

It was also learnt that details of which zone would produce each of the next 19 member-National Working Committee (NWC) of the party have emerged.

While it was gathered that the North Central geopolitical zone will produce the national chair­man of the party, the zone it was also gathered would produce the national treasurer and national legal adviser.

In the current NWC, North Central holds the positions of national finance secretary and national publicity secretary.

It was also learnt from a source at the party’s national secretariat that the South-West will produce the next national publicity secretary.

The zone currently holds the positions of national treasurer and national deputy chairman (South).

While the South-South is cur­rently holding the positions of the national chairman, and legal adviser, the South-East holds na­tional organising secretary and national youth leader positions.

In the North, the positions of deputy national chairman (North), national woman leader, and national auditor are being occupied by persons from the North-East.

The North-West is currently holding the position of national secretary.