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Less than nine months to the 2007
presidential elections, the crisis-ridden People’s Democratic Party
(PDP) is still uncertain about the criteria for choosing its
presidential candidate.

Vincent Ogbulafor, the party’s
former national chairman, was the first to brew the controversy when he
told journalists shortly after Goodluck Jonathan was made acting
president that Mr Jonathan was not eligible to contest the 2011
presidential elections. His reason was that his party had zoned the
2011 presidency to the north, a position which was echoed by other
leaders of the party, including former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.

Mr Ogbulafor’s position, NEXT
learnt, is based on article 7, subsection 2c, of the PDP constitution,
which defines how elective and party offices should be shared or zoned.

“In pursuance of the principle of
equity, justice and fairness, the party shall adhere to the policy of
rotation and zoning of party and public elective offices, and it shall
be enforced by the appropriate executive committee at all levels,” the
section states.

Despite claims that the PDP had
always had a zoning formula since its inception, it was not a legal
item within the party until about 12 months ago.

At its April 2009 special
convention, PDP delegates from all over the country came for one
purpose, to amend the party’s constitution. The section on zoning was
adopted by the delegates, allowing for a controversial debate to become
a law within the party.

Prior to 2009, however, zoning had
always been a contentious issue within the party. Olusegun Obasanjo,
Nigeria’s former president, is believed to have been the first
beneficiary of the PDP’s zoning formula, when he was elected as the
party’s flag-bearer in the 1999 presidential elections. Mr Obasanjo
later claimed ignorance of any arrangement within the PDP that
supported zoning, when he told the Voice of America that “there’s no
arrangement that precludes any Nigerian from contesting or from
becoming the president of Nigeria.” Founding members of the PDP where,
however, quick to point out that Mr Obasanjo was speaking out of
ignorance.

Alex Ekwueme, a former Vice
President and founding member of the PDP, debunked Mr Obasanjo’s claim,
when he told newsmen that “he (Mr Obasanjo) may not be fully conversant
with the historical antecedents to the formation of the party and what
we agreed on between July and September 1998.” Further evidence of the
“gentlemanly agreement” over zoning of public office was published by
the controversial “PDP integrity group” which published minutes of a
caucus meeting of the PDP held in December 2002.

The decisive meeting

According to minutes of the
meeting, 51 party leaders, including Mr Obasanjo, and Mr Jonathan, who
was then deputy governor of Bayelsa State, met to discuss two issues;
the first and major one being the zoning of public office.

Some attendees, including Mr
Abubakar; Lawal Keita, former governor of Katsina State; and Tony
Anenih, former chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees; stated that two
terms of four years each be rotated between the north and the south;
while others like Obong Attah, former Akwa-Ibom State governor, and
Farouk Farouk, the party’s national youth leader, dissented. However,
Mr Jonathan and Mr. Obasanjo did not speak on the issue, neither was
their voting pattern shown in the minutes.

At the end of the deliberation, a vote was taken and 47 members supported the zoning arrangement.

Commenting on the meeting, Bernard
Mikko, a former PDP member of the House of Representatives, explained
that, “It was a political gimmick, an understanding to get a soft
landing for Atiku, who felt that he should have been given the
opportunity to contest, so that he can be the party’s candidate in
2007.” Eight years after the meeting, however, Mr Abubakar showed that
he still very much believes in the zoning arrangement when he told the
BBC that, “Well, yes, I am aware of that agreement; I was a party to
it. It exists and I expect the party will implement that policy and if
the party decides not to implement it then, it will also have to meet
and review it.” The former vice president further stated that, should
Mr Jonathan decide to contest for the next presidential elections, it
might lead to some upheaval, saying, “I know it is bound to cause some
political instability and that is what we don’t want at this point in
time.”

Zoning is wrong

The zoning argument within the PDP
is not on a regional level, as some northerners like Mr Farouk, and
Babangida Aliyu, the Niger State governor have spoken against it. Some
southerners have also argued that the party should respect its
arrangement and constitution.

Some political analysts have
argued that since the provision was just inserted in the party’s
constitution in 2009, it cannot be a retroactive law and so its
implementation should start afresh, especially since it does not
specify which position should go to which tribe or ethnic group.

Others, like Mr Mikko, who argue
against any form of zoning, argue that the PDP is only hypocritical
about the zoning, as the party has never really followed it.

“Why is it that the party which
zoned the election allowed Abubakar Rimi (a northerner) to contest in
1999, and then Rimi and Gemade to contest the primaries in 2003? Forms
were sold to them. What of if they had won?” Mr Mikko said.

“Why was it that, in 2007, Peter
Odili (former governor of Rivers State), Sam Egwu (former governor of
Ebonyi State) and so on, were cleared to contest after they had paid
the requisite fee? This means that the party itself did not subscribe
to the same zoning which they professed. “If we truly believe that
leadership comes from God, why should we make a choice first before
leaving the remnant for God to select from?”

President Jonathan has not declared his intention to contest the
presidential elections in 2011, though his political aide told National
Assembly correspondents that Mr Jonathan would contest. Mr Jonathan
said recently that, “no law in Nigeria” prevents him from contesting.
Though the Nigerian constitution does not bar anyone from contesting to
be president based on his state or region of origin within Nigeria, Mr
Jonathan’s decision to contest or not will, however, be dependent upon
the resolution of the PDP zoning formula