Olusegun Ariyo
A former presidential candidate and chieftain of the PDP, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has explained why he faulted the party’s decision to zone the presidency to the South.
Olawepo-Hashim claimed that the Constitution of Nigeria does not permit any party to zone elective political offices such as the presidency.
He stated this on Thursday while fielding questions on Arise Television’s Morning Show programme.
The statement comes after the PDP, on Monday, zoned the party’s presidential ticket to the southern part of the country in a bid to salvage the once-largest political party in Africa.
However, Olawepo-Hashim said the development has the potential of pitching one section of the country against another, calling it a very terrible thing.
He said: “Well, my opposition to zoning the presidency is not on account that I wanted it to come to the North Central. I’m doing so because it is against the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not permit any party to zone elective political office, such as the President, on account of region. It is discriminatory, and this has never been done by any political party in Nigerian history. People may have their sentiments, but they don’t come to the platform of the party, such as the National Executive Committee, to pronounce that they are closing the door to a certain region.
“Now, the danger in this kind of thing is that you pitch one section of the country against another, which is a very terrible thing. Nigerians are not interested in where the President comes from. Nigerians want a competent president, a president that can fix the economy, a president that can fix national security.”
