Nigeria Content Online

President Goodluck
Jonathan yesterday broke his silence on the controversial zoning
formula of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and insisted that the
ruling party never zoned the presidency to any part of the country.

He also denied allegations that he is using public funds to run his campaign.

Mr. Jonathan spoke
to journalists at the PDP national secretariat in Abuja, after
submitting his nomination form. He was accompanied by his deputy, eight
state governors, ministers, and former party officials. The large
entourage arrived at the secretariat at about 3.30pm in a white Toyota
bus. All the governors rode in the bus with him.

Mr. Jonathan, who
formally declared his intention to run for the presidency on September
18, said he decided to run because the party had never decided to zone
the position to either the south or the north. He added that the party
has no absolute control of the zoning of the presidency.

The president, who
assured that he would not go against the party’s constitution, asked
those insisting that the presidency was zoned to any particular section
of the country, why they showed interest in the job in 2003.

“This is the first time I have to comment on zoning,” Mr Jonathan said. “At the appropriate time, you will know a little more.

“But, either by
virtue of the PDP constitution, or in practice, the presidency of
Nigeria has never been zoned to any part of the country. It has never
been zoned, or maybe I would read some sections of our own constitution
too,” he said.

The president
admitted that the concept of zoning and rotation in the PDP
constitution exists to encourage power to move from one part of the
country to the other, but that it is not limited to the office of the
president.

He explained that
it is only after the president and the vice president have emerged in
an election that the party can now decide to zone positions of the
National Assembly.

“We will read that
section from the least office (from councillorship to the presidency)
to encourage rotation and the issue of zoning. PDP does not zone the
presidency, but PDP zones offices they have absolute control or
reasonable control over. The fact also is that the chairman of the
party, deputy chairman, secretary, these are offices that PDP has
absolute control over, and normally, PDP will zone.

“The office of the
President and other elective offices like Senate Presidency, Speaker,
and National Assembly Officers, PDP has reasonable control, as long as
we are in the majority. Those offices could be zoned. But, before you
zone those offices, the President and the vice president would have
first emerged,” he said.

Origin of zoning

Mr. Jonathan
recalled that in 2007, he had a meeting with former President Olusegun
Obasanjo, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, former chairman of the
PDP, Ahmadu Ali, the former national secretary, Ojo Maduekwe, and
former chairman of the Board of Trustees, Tony Anenih, where the zoning
of the chairmanship position, the Senate presidency, and other offices
were decided.

The president
further argued that, in accordance with the PDP tradition, if for any
reason an occupant of the office zoned resigns or dies, the replacement
comes from the zone from which the former occupants hailed from.

He cited the
example of the former chairman of the party, Vincent Ogbulafor, and the
former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Patricia Etteh, both of
whom were succeeded by people from their zones.

Mr. Jonathan
recalled that when he was drafted to run as vice president in 2007, the
PDP insisted that the position of the governor should be taken back to
the zone where his predecessor, Diepreye Alayiemeseigha, comes from.

He challenged the advocates of zoning of the presidency to explain why there are contenders for the position from the north.

“Those who are
arguing, especially those who are also aspirants, who are arguing about
this zoning, ask them, were they interested in contesting the
Presidency of this country in 2003? Were they interested in 2007?

“Of course, if by
our practice, PDP has a zoning arrangement that the presidency will be
in the North for eight years, then South for eight years, then North
for eight years, in 2003 no northern aspirant would have developed
interest.

“So, even in
practice, the PDP constitution, the one I read, I decided to read from
2001, to tell you that it is not a recent issue. It has been a part of
the party. The 2009 constitution, the current one, they lifted it
exactly, no word is altered. The process of zoning is not limited to
the Presidency alone,” he said.

He also argued that
if the party had zoned the governorship seat, Gbemi Saraki, a senator,
wouldn’t be thinking of succeeding her brother, Bukola Saraki, as
governor.

“Whenever those
people talking about zoning come to you again, ask them, especially if
they are fellow aspirants like me, ask them their political interests
in 2003 and 2007.

“They are
interested in 2011, and they are still talking about zoning. I will not
do anything that is at variance with the constitution of the party,”
the president stressed.

State funds to run campaign

On the allegations
that he is using state funds to run his campaign, Mr. Jonathan said, “I
am a serving president. Most of my governors are facing the same
accusation. The fact is that you cannot use state funds to run campaign.

“All over the
world, we have electoral laws which stipulate how much an individual
can spend at elections. But, I have never used public funds to run my
campaigns. At the appropriate time, I will publish the details of my
campaign funds,” he declared.

Those who
accompanied the president include his deputy, Namadi Sambo, and eight
governors, all of whom were in the same vehicle with him. The governors
were Adebayo Alao-Akala (Oyo); Segun Oni (Ekiti); Liyel Imoke (Cross
River); Ikedi Ohakim (Imo); Ibrahim Shema (Katsina); Aliyu Akwei Doma
(Nasarawa); Isa Yuguda (Bauchi); and Sullivan Chime (Enugu).

Others in the team
were minister of police affairs, Maina Waziri; women affairs, Josephine
Anenih; former sports minister, Saidu Sambawa; special adviser to the
vice president on special duties, Isaiah Balat; former information
minister, Jerry Gana; chairman of Africa Business Rountable, Bamanga
Tukur; former resident electoral commission in Lagos, Isa Mohammed; and
the director general of Goodluck Jonathan/Namandi Sambo Campaign
Organisation, Dalhatu Tafida.

Two former national
chairmen of the PDP, Ahmadu Ali and Barnabas Gemade, as well as former
chairman of the PDP board of trustees, Tony Anenih, also came with Mr.
Jonathan.