Nigeria Content Online

Some northern
leaders have cashed in on the issue of zoning to plot the
disintegration of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and such
individuals should steer clear of the affairs of the party, the
National Vice Chairman of the PDP North West Zone, Danladi Sankara has
said.

Mr Sankara, who was
speaking over the weekend in Kano, said the issue of rotational
presidency is purely a PDP affair and promised that the PDP will
resolve the issue without undue external interference.

He said it was
unfortunate that some ‘so-called leaders’ were threatening to pull the
north out of the PDP if the presidential ticket of the party was not
zoned to the region.

“First of all,
those you refer to as Northern leaders threatening the PDP were
speaking for themselves,” he said. “It is an empty threat. The people
making all the noise are not even members of a political party other
than the PDP, then how come they have taken it upon themselves to
indulge in trouble shooting over an issue that is purely and squarely a
PDP affairs? Let me tell the truth. All those who claim to be speaking
for the North over the issues of rotation and zoning have, all along
since 1998, been working tirelessly against the interest of the PDP.”
Mr Sankara said these people are very well known enemies of the party
whom he said are probably nursing ‘a false belief’ that they could
overheat the system to achieve their sinister motive; of crippling the
party.

“But it is a tall order that cannot be achieved,” he said.

The PDP is in full
control of 16 Northern states, with only three states in the hands of
opposition. With all sense of modesty and responsibility, I declare
categorically that the whole 19 states will be won by PDP in 2011
general election. Mr Sankara advised those people making inflammatory
statements to exercise caution and resist the temptation of fighting
proxy wars because of the grave danger these constitute to democracy
and peace of the nation.

Equal to the task

“I have said it
several times that the PDP is a credible party that has tested internal
conflict resolution mechanism; we can resolve our issues by ourselves
without external influence,” he said. “It is not late for people of
good conscience to sit down together and discuss the issue with the aim
of removing doubts, suspicion and bad blood generated by the activities
of the political opportunists who attempted to create distrust and
disaffection between the North and the good people of the South over
this contentious matter.

“Secondly, the PDP is a responsible political party and it is equal
to the task of resolving all the issues concerning 2011 presidential
elections.