Wednesday, 26 May 2010
President Goodluck Jonathan and Former President Olusegun Obasanjo
Hardly had the president settled down to work when some people started talking about the necessity for him to continue in office beyond 2011 by contesting the next presidential election. Though the president has remained evasive concerning the issue, advocates of Jonathan for presidency in 2011 have continued to drum it into the ears of those who care to listen that the constitution of the country allows him to contest, while denying the existence of any zoning agreement.
The controversy over zoning is gradually dividing the party along North and South, as well as creeping into the society. Due to the recent change of guard in the presidency, some politicians of the northern extraction are of the opinion that the zoning policy of the PDP and the agreement which led to the ceding of the presidency to the South between 1999 and 2007 and the North (from 2007 to 2015) must be allowed to run its full course.
This has caused a lot of controversy within the party, as a cross section of party members recently declared that the zoning policy was not a permanent political arrangement, while others have continued to say that it was an agreement signed, sealed and binding on all, and even went further to publish the minutes of the meeting where the decision was taken.
Pioneer national chairman of the PDP, Chief Solomon Lar, and one of those alleged to have been at the meeting where the decision on zoning was taken, recently told newsmen in Jos that the zoning was not a permanent arrangement, but was fashioned out in 1999 to stabilise the country.
According to him, the idea was conceived in 1999, following the myriad of complaints from the southern part of the country, the South-West in particular, that the North was marginalising the zone, coupled with the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election said to have been won by the late Chief MKO Abiola. He added that some of the founding members of the party x-rayed the feelings of people then and unanimously agreed that the Presidency be zoned to the South-West so that all Nigerians could have a sense of belonging and also to pacify that section of the country.
“It was agreed that zoning should be adopted and the presidency conceded to the South, the South-West in particular, considering the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election and the feelings of the people of that part of the country at the time.
“So, the zoning at that time was to help to stabilise the country; it was not a permanent issue. We did it to stabilise the situation. But it is up to the PDP to determine whether to continue with it or not. The party should sit and consider if it is still relevant. We will sit down and come up with a solution to the problem,” he said.
The zoning issue, coupled with the agitation in some quarters that Jonathan should contest the 2011 election, has become a contentious issue and tends to polarise the people, leading to discordant tunes by different actors. The clamour for President Jonathan to continue in office is perceived by some people of northern extraction within the PDP as an attempt to shortchange them, having conceded the number one seat to the South for eight years.
However, there are those who view the PDP zoning arrangement as being retrogressive, unconstitutional and uncivilised, concluding that the party has never abided by the zoning arrangement.
According to those who hold the latter opinion, during the 2003 presidential primary of the PDP, in spite of the fact that it was allegedly zoned to the South, prominent party members from the North, such as the late Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, Aliyu Gusau and others slugged it out with former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
In 2007, when the presidency was allegedly zoned to the North, notable party members from the South were also allowed to take part, some of whom were former Governors Victor Attah and Peter Odili; Chief Rochas Okorocha and others, thus negating the zoning arrangement. Those against the arrangement also opined that since it is not in the party’s constitution, it is not binding on party members.
A founding member of the PDP, Ambassador Yahaya Kwande, said the zoning was a peculiar arrangement of the PDP adopted to stabilise the Nigerian polity, adding that the party should allow it to go round the six geopolitical zones before it is terminated. According to him, by May, next year, power should return to the North so that it could complete its eight-year term.
He, however, bemoaned the arrangement on the premise that it cannot give Nigeria a good leader, but stated that the arrangement needed to go round because of the peculiar nature of the Nigerian polity and to give all the zones a good sense of belonging.
Nevertheless, Director, League of Human Rights, Mr Gad Shamaki, said that in as much as the zoning arrangement helped to stabilise the polity, it had a lot of disadvantages, adding that many Nigerians needed not to lose sleep over this because it was strictly a PDP arrangement.
According to him, zoning was an undemocratic formula used by the political elite to share power, saying that it was being used to goad the citizens and railroad them into perpetual subservience, adding that it would always promote mediocre performance among by elected persons.
Though zoning of political office is a peculiar arrangement of the PDP, it has become so tightly integrated into the political structure that it is being applied to all levels. The arrangement is now an albatross to the party, a riddle yet to be unravelled, and now a subject of national discourse. The way the party handles the matter will determine what to expect in 2011.
