2023: Northern, Southern PDP Governors Disagree Over Zoning

The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum over zoning of the party’s 2023 presidential ticket is becoming more serious. During a meeting on Sunday, February 20, eight southern governors were insisting that the ticket be zoned to the south ahead of the 2023 presidential election. Contrary to this position, four of the five governors from the north demanded that the process of deciding what zone should produce the flagbearer should be made open. The northern governors, according to a source, are hoping that by their larger number in the forum they will retain the ticket.

This rancour, sources claim, is tearing the ranks of the opposition party apart and as such, threatening its unity and chance of victory in the coming general elections. The source said: “The matter is made more difficult for the southern governors in view of the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari who is from the North, will be serving out his two terms of eight years in 2023. “Now, how will these governors face their people and tell them that they have agreed to the zoning of the party’s 2023 presidential ticket to the North again. “Obviously, that would amount to a repudiation of the resolution of the 17 southern governors forum which they individually and collectively subscribed to. That resolution is binding on them.” South or north? Outcome of PDP governors’ alleged Ghana meeting on presidential zoning revealed ahead of 2023.

Meanwhile, governors on the platform of the PDP had failed to reach a consensus over the zoning of the party’s 2023 presidential ticket. The governors had a retreat in Accra, Ghana on Tuesday, February 15, and Wednesday, February 16, with a view to end the disagreement over the zoning. The governors, however, reportedly returned to Nigeria on Thursday, February 17, failing to reach a consensus on the crucial issue.