Doyin Okupe, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said his party may lose the 2023 presidency if it zoned it to the north.
Okupe, in an interview in Abuja said the gale of defections in the PPD had nothing to do with any form of crisis, saying it was just part of happenings when a general election was approaching
He said those who had defected had personal issues with party leadership, especially on the zoning arrangement, adding that the issue of zoning should not be a basis for defections at this time because the committee set up to determine that would soon conclude their assignment and submit their report
Okupe, however, said there was a strong indication that the party is erroneously tilting towards zoning the presidency to the North, saying that zoning is a veritable instrument that ensured equity and balancing in the nation, gives hope and confidence and support to national unity.
He explained that the zoning arrangement which the PDP started since 1998 was based on the assumption that the party would be in power consistently but that the moment it lost power in 2015, automatically the arrangement had to be reviewed in view of the development
Okupe said when the PDP lost power, there was a southern president in power, stressing that if the party did not lose power and won in 2019, zoning would kick in and power would have shifted to the North.
He said the party that won the election presented a northern candidate who by 2023 would have ruled for eight years.
