A former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has argued
against the call for zoning the 2023 presidential ticket of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) to the Southern part of Nigeria.
Mr Kwankwaso made his position known in an interview with
Channels Television on Sunday night where he also spoke about several political
concerns ahead of the 2023 general elections.
In his argument, the two-term governor of Kano State
condemned the insistence of the Southern Governors Forum in July 2021 that the
next president of the country must come from their region rather than what is
best.
He considered the call by the governors and other leaders as
an attempt to intimidate the northern region into relinquishing its right to
contest the seat.
Mr Kwankwaso said the decision to contest should be based on
strategy rather than mere clamour or sentiments.
With reference to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and
Goodluck Jonathan, Mr Kwankwaso, who is eyeing the 2023 presidential ticket of
the PDP, said the party had produced more southern presidents than the north.
“You see many people are mixing what ordinarily shouldn’t
come together at all. We have PDP, we have APC, we have APGA and we have many
other parties today in this country. And the issue of where a party put his
presidency or vice presidency is a matter of strategy.
“If you look at it from 1999, to date, or even after 2023,
we have 16 years for PDP, eight years for APC. Now, in the 16 years of PDP, we
had a situation where the presidency has been in the south for 14 years and
only in the north for two years during the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of blessed
memory.
“Now we see some people, maybe because they don’t understand
politics or they want to be mischievous, they keep on mixing the two issues of
two political parties together. This PDP and APC are contestants in this game,”
he said.
As it stands, neither the APC nor PDP has announced the
zoning of its presidential ticket for next year’s election.
The reluctance of the two major parties in the country to do
so has provoked speculations that they may throw the ticket open to all
aspirants.
Speaking on speculations of his possible defection from PDP
to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Kwankwaso debunked the rumour
and reiterated his commitment to ensure victory for his party in the 2023
polls.
In his explanation, he traced the genesis of the speculation
to leave the PDP to the treatment meted out on him and his supporters during
the party’s congress in Kaduna in 2021.
“As we speak, there is no plan for me to leave the PDP, to
join APC, or any other party.
“Of course, there were issues which are very clear to almost
everybody; that we had congress in April last year in Kaduna, which I felt and
many of my supporters in the North-west and even beyond felt that I was not
being treated well and Kano was not being treated the way it should be.
“And therefore, I believe that was the beginning of those issues to the extent that people thought because of that, we would leave the PDP for APC or any other party,” he said, while noting the reconciliatory efforts of the party leaders.
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