Zoning the presidency: PDP’s masterstroke for 2027

Wonders shall never end. Some of our politicians and pundits will never cease to amaze us. Or how else does one explain the ongoing bickering over the decision of the national executive committee (NEC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to zone the presidency to the south, for the 2027 general election?

Particularly jolted is the African Democratic Congress (ADC) which argues that the decision by the PDP to zone the presidency to the south, two years to the general elections, is rather hasty and smacks of insensitivity to the plight of the masses. Not surprisingly, some chieftains of the PDP have also criticised the decision on the rather unconvincing premise that it upends the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

For the records, the ADC is the motley assemblage of strange bedfellows who, though professing a common objective of wresting power from the faltering All Progressive Congress (APC)-led Federal Government, is replete with a multiplicity of as many agenda as the disparate elements that have bandied together in that yet to coalesce special purpose vehicle.

For sure, criticism is one of the major responsibilities of political parties. It could serve as a wake up call from an opposition party to the ruling party; at other times, it serves as a strategy to weaken an opponent. But there are moments when it could become ridiculous. The recent criticism of the PDP decision on the presidency is one such moment.

This criticism raises a number of questions. To borrow a popular Nigerian parlance, why would the ADC or any other party be taking Paracetamol (a local analgesic) for a headache that another party, in this case, the PDP, inflicted itself? When did Nigerian political parties become so virtuous and compassionate as to bother about the well-being of another party, more so given the zero-sum nature of Nigerian politics where no love is lost among the parties? The rational thing would be to allow the PDP to die from its misstep, that is, if the decision can be so described.

However, the truth lies somewhere else. The fact that the decision to zone the presidency to the south has ruffled some feathers, especially those of the nascent ADC, shows that the country’s leading opposition party has delivered an uppercut to its opponents.

I think, and I stand to be corrected, that the evident revival of the PDP has come as a rude shock to its adversaries who, not too long ago, had written it off. That those who previously ridiculed the party are now so miffed as to make it their paramount preoccupation speaks to the fear that has gripped them, that a resurgent PPD, controlling nine states, stands a better chance of mobilising Nigerians than the ADC special purpose vehicle most of whose leaders are driven by personal agenda rather that a united vision to salvage Nigeria for Nigerians.

Secondly, is the real prospect of the depletion of the ADC with the inevitable return to the PDP of those who had not given the party a fair chance of survival. It will be recalled that former vice president Atiku Abubakar did the same thing when he made a detour back to the PDP after leading the exodus that culminated in the party’s loss to the APC in 2015. Whether he will do the same thing this time around is left to be seen. However, what is not in doubt, particularly now that the former vice president has declared his intention to run, is that some prominent members of the party will rejoin the PDP. Only those who want to be his running mate are likely to stay back in the ADC!

Thirdly, though sheer ego will not allow them to admit it, palpable panic has gripped those who fear that, by zoning the presidency to the south, the PDP had surreptitiously eliminated any opposition to the candidacy of former president Goodluck Jonathan should he decide to heed calls from several quarters to return Nigeria to what, given our present predicament, could be described as paradise lost.

I like to admit that the fear of Jonathan’s return is understandable because, several years after he was hounded out of power by those baying for blood, Nigerians have come to recognise his leadership qualities and now appreciate the difference between buying a bag of rice at N11,000 per bag in 2015 and N80, 000 today. That is the fear: that the man has a track record to campaign with and that would be a game changer. Add to that the fact that he needs not convince anyone that he would not go beyond one term: he is constitutionally barred from doing so! You see what I mean?

But assuming former President Goodluck Jonathan is not on the ballot, the PDP has a surfeit of candidates to pick from. Among them are Governor Seyi Makinde who is doing a great job in Oyo State and Mr. Peter Obi, a permanent member of the PDP now on sabbatical from the party. Again, as Nigerians would say in pidgin, PDP no dey carry last!

The PDP deserves to be commended for the bold, timely and patriotic decision to zone the presidency to the south. This is a move that could institutionalize rotating the presidency between the north and the south. Such an arrangement has the advantage of narrowing the search for presidential candidates thereby sparing the nation the tension, uncertainty, financial haemorrhage and intra-party conundrum usually associated with presidential nominations.

While the party as a whole deserves commendation, also worthy of adulation is the statesmanship displayed by prominent members of the party who have sacrificed their presidential ambitions in the service of a higher cause: political stability and national unity. Governor Bala Mohammed, Senator Bukola Saraki, Hon. Tanimu Turaki and Prof Jerry Gana fall within this category of patriotic leaders who are not consumed by the inordinate ambition to be addressed as president, but whose names will be etched in gold when the history of Nigeria’s revival is taught in schools.

What is more, these patriots do not seem to be bothered that each of them, by virtue of either age or resources or the unknown, could have become handicapped by 2031 when the presidency is expected to return to the North. Yet, they have gone ahead to sacrifice their individual ambitions for the sake of the country. That is statesmanship par excellence, by patriots who think of how the decisions that they take today will affect future generations, unlike insatiable power megalomaniacs who have no qualms sacrificing future generations on the altar of a nebulous entitlement mentality.

This will not be the first time that some of them, particularly Bala Mohammed, would take on what could be described as a suicide mission. Still indelible is the political courage he displayed in 2010 when, against a wellspring of opposition from his constituency, he moved the Doctrine of Necessity Motion in the senate that allowed the then vice president Goodluck Jonathan to assume office as acting President before he was ultimately confirmed as the president.

The same goes for Dr. Bukola Saraki who, in the face of highly debilitating and humiliating persecution, presided over a senate reputed more for its nobility and independence than the uncommon chicanery that has become the order of the day.

Now, to the argument, as some politicians have done, that the PDP zoning arrangement is discriminatory and unconstitutional. Juxtaposed against other extant affirmative action principles and policies, this is one example of selective amnesia that is, at once, hypocritical and preposterous. It is, to say the least, a gratuitous insult on the intelligence of Nigerians especially those who have borne the brunt of inclusion policies that end up excluding some of them.

Pray, those parading such views should point to their publicly stated positions, if any, on other discriminatory policies such as quota system and federal character that often set merit aside. What have they said about the plight of those who, despite recording higher JAMB scores, are constrained to step down for candidates with much lower scores simply to satisfy the imperative of inclusion and diversity management as evinced by the above provisions? When does what is good for the goose cease to be sauce for the gander?

It is such despicable selective amnesia that is at the root of the deep-seated misgivings in our body politic; that undermine every effort at nation-building and that, in spite of Nigeria’s inestimable resource endowment, has deferred country’s entry into the comity of developed countries. That is what the PDP seeks to address by the zoning, a political engineering masterstroke that promises to be a game-changer.

Emma Agu, FNGE, is the media consultant to the PDP Governors Forum.