Tobias Sylvester
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has clarified that the zoning committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not throw the 2023 presidential ticket of the party open.
Ortom Speaks On PDP Presidential Ticket 2023
The governor stated this while reacting to report that the PDP zoning committee had recommended that the party’s presidential ticket be thrown open to all zones of the country following resolutions reached during its meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.
If the recommendation is adopted by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party, aspirants from any of the six geopolitical zones could run for any elective position, including the presidency.
This is against the calls and expectations that the party should zone the presidential ticket to the South – ahead of the 2023 general election.
In a statement on Wednesday by Nathaniel Ikyur, his chief press secretary, Ortom insisted that the committee was being quoted on what it did not say, wondering why those who were not part of the meeting would want to “force words into the committee’s mouth.”
The governor, who addressed the issue while appearing on the ‘Morning Show’ on Arise TV, said the committee has submitted its recommendation to the party’s NEC for further action on the zoning.
Ortom said: “I want to clear the insinuation that the zoning committee has thrown open the presidential ticket. I did inform the media yesterday (Tuesday, April 5, 2022) that the committee has adopted a unanimous position to be presented to the national executive committee (NEC) of the party. Where did I say that the committee has thrown open the presidential ticket?
“The committee will present the report to NEC. It is the NEC that has the final authority on the zoning of positions.
“As far as the committee was concerned, there were arguments that the presidential candidate should go to the South. While some said it should go to the Northern part of the country. There were others who were of the opinion that it should be thrown open for the best candidate who will be able to deliver good governance and make Nigerians feel like human beings again.
“As the chairman of the committee, we did not say that. So it is very wrong for anyone to insinuate that we have thrown the presidential ticket open. I am still repeating that, whatever we did, we have submitted our report to NEC. So it is wrong for the media to come out with a position despite the fact that they were not members of the committee.
“I came out to brief the media. So it is wrong completely. I did not say that. And like I said, NEC is the final authority on deciding where this position will be zoned to.
“NEC directed us that in zoning these positions, go and do it right without minding where the president will come from yet. That when the time comes for the presidential, a mandate will be given to the people and NEC will take a decision. That is what we have done.”
The governor then implored the media not to, “Crucify us. Don’t kill us before you get the answer because PDP have not brought up a report, insisting that it will be done by NEC.”
Ortom said the party leadership is “Consciously working towards ensuring that the party gets it right thing this time. I believe that at the end, the right thing will be done.”
He however stressed that, “Preempting the committee’s work and NEC decision is not correct. I want to appeal that NEC will soon invite us to a meeting and then we can move on from there.”
Governor Ortom maintained that “At the end of the day, the most important thing to the PDP is what the party can do to bring the economy and security situation back to normalcy,” because “If nothing drastic is not done about the present situation in the country, a time will come when even the Presidential Villa and other government houses will be taken over by the terrorists. They are already closing in on us and we seem to be helpless. Everyone must team up to fight for justice, equity and fairness,” he stated.
KanyiDaily recalls that former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar had called on PDP members to do everything possible to win the 2023 election, saying anything short of victory will not be good for the party.
