Nigeria Content Online

The
governors of the states in the southern part of the country, elected on
the platform of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), are still in
negotiation talks with their counterparts in the north on the party’s
presidential ticket in the 2011 election.

The Delta State
governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, disclosed this in Abuja yesterday, shortly
after he submitted his Expression of Interest and nomination forms at
the party’s national secretariat.

Mr. Uduaghan also
dismissed the clamour by some members of the PDP in Delta State for the
dissolution of the executive committee of the state chapter of the
party.

Apparently
referring to the non-committal stance of some governors when they spoke
at the formal declaration of President Goodluck Jonathan for the
presidential race last Saturday, the governor said the southern
governors are still exploring the avenue to ensure that the president’s
candidature is acceptable to everybody.

Mr. Uduaghan said politics is all about negotiation, adding that what the southern governors are doing is not new.

“I have always said
this whole thing is about negotiation. Politics is about negotiation,
and I believe we should all go into negotiation. We are negotiating
with our colleagues in the North,” he stated.

Apart from the Delta Stategovernor, others who appeared at the
party’s national secretariat to either pick or submit their forms
include Theodore Orji (Abia State); Dambaba Suntai (Taraba State);
Saidu Dakingari of Kebbi State; and Jonathan Zwingina, who is gunning
for the Adamawa State governorship seat.