• Region will not be underestimated, to make bold statement soon, Wike vows
Elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, yesterday, faulted the presidential ambition of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, arguing that the development constitutes a threat to survival of the country.
In a statement, Clark also expressed dismay that former Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State are also angling for the presidency ahead of the 2023 poll.
He said it beats his imagination that the aforementioned persons, who opposed former President Goodluck Jonathan for contesting the presidential elections in the 2015 poll because they felt it was the turn of the North, are now seeking to run under the PDP in 2023.
He said: “They are already campaigning through the length and breadth of the country, even after a Northerner will be having a straight eight years by May, 2023. Is it no longer a negation of the ‘zoning agreement’ for which former President Jonathan was castigated?
“Is it no longer threatening the unity and survival of the country? The intention of these and others who may follow will be going against the zoning system of the PDP. It may even be the deciding factor for the PDP, whether to be or not to be.”
THIS was as Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, said no one can undermine the interest of the people of Southern Nigeria in deciding who flies the presidential ticket of the PDP.
He said people of the region will make a bold statement at the appropriate time and Nigerians will know their stand.
Wike made the declaration during a meeting of PDP stakeholders in Rivers State at Government House in Port Harcourt.
He said: “We are assets. We are not a liability. When we say we are going to support the party, we support the party with everything we have. We are not in America where you do television campaign.
“When we come out, we will choke them. They know it. So, everybody should relax. Let the South do their homework and then they’ll make a proper statement.”
He advised: “Please, discountenance anything you’re seeing and hearing, all those social media posts. The day the South makes a statement, Nigerians will know we are not joking.”
“It’s not coming out to say you’re consulting. You’re consulting, yet you’ve declared. Is it not after consultation that you declare? You’ve already declared and you say you’re consulting. What are you consulting again then?
IN another development, PDP presidential aspirant, Sam Ohuabunwa, cautioned his party against the idea of dropping its zoning principle, which, he said, stipulates that the presidency shall rotate between North and South.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja, the former chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), said the framers of PDP’s constitution recognised the imperative of the rotational clause to ensure equity, sense of belonging and justice for constituent parts of the country.
He argued that zoning of the presidency is necessary at this point of the nation’s development, noting that it can only be jettisoned when Nigeria develops further.
This came as the chairman of the PDP’s Board of Trustees (BoT) Walid Jubrin, expressed optimism that the party would return to power in 2023.
Jubrin, who spoke during a courtesy call on members of the party at the National Assembly, said the visit was to encourage the lawmakers to remain courageous as another general election draws near.
MEANWHILE, Nigerian Youth Union (NYU) has thrown its weight behind Tambuwal’s presidential ambition.
According to National President Comrade Chinonso Obasi, “Tambuwal represents the leaders of tomorrow that youths have always been promised.”
He added: “With the strong stature of his mental, physical and moral capital, we are happy to announce that NYU considers Tambuwal as the greatest gift to Nigerian youths.”
