Presidential aspirants of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) from Nigeria’s South East are joining forces to ensure the party’s candidate comes from the zone.
Sam Ohuabunwa, Anyim Pius Anyim, Peter Obi, and Nwachukwu Anakwenze met in Abuja and resolved to work as a team.
After the meeting, Senator Anyim said they would "work together to ensure that a South Easterner emerges as the flag bearer of the PDP."
There was no information over which of them might be backed to get the ticket, but Senator Anyim said they “intend to consult with other zones on this issue” which is “based on fairness and equity.”
The four aspirants argue that the South East has always supported other regions and believe it is time for the regions to reciprocate.
The South East in Presidential Politics
The South East has neither produced a president nor vice president since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999.
Together with the North Central, they’re the only two of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones to have never produced the nation’s first two citizens.
The push for a presidential candidate from the zone is partly based on this.
It is also based on the argument that the South East region, which is made up of five states, has always voted PDP in general elections.
When Nigeria transitioned from military to democratic governance in 1999, the three major parties fielded candidates of South West origin.
At the time, there was a consensus among Nigeria’s top politicians and acknowledged kingmakers that the president should come from the South West.
This was done to placate the region for the annulment of the 1993 Presidential Election which was won by Moshood Abiola, a billionaire philanthropist from the South West.
The dominant PDP elected a former military head of state, Olusegun Obasanjo as its candidate in a much-publicised primary where he defeated Alex Ekwueme who was from the South East.
The Alliance for Democracy (AD) joined forces with the All People’s Party (APP) to produce a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Olu Falae as its candidate.
General Obasanjo (rtd) won the 1999 election with a running mate from the North East region. They were in office for eight years before handing over power to Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, the newly elected president from the North West.
Yar’Adua’s vice president, Goodluck Jonathan was from the oil-rich South-South. Their time together in office wasn’t long as the president died from congestive heart failure in May 2010, paving the way for Mr. Jonathan to become president.
Mr. Jonathan picked a vice president, Namadi Sambo from the North West, the same region as his late principal. Together they won the 2011 General Election, paving the way for Mr. Jonathan’s first full term as an elected president.
They ran again in 2015 but were defeated by the opposition All Progressives Congress which fielded a former military head of state, Muhammadu Buhari as its candidate.
General Buhari (rtd) remains the president of Nigeria.
He is from the North West and his running mate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo is from the South West.
Since 1999, the North West has produced two presidents and a vice president, the North East has produced a vice president, the South West has produced a president and a vice president, and the South-South has produced a president.
Zoning of the Presidency
There is an unwritten rule among politicians, especially those of the PDP that presidential power should rotate between Northern and Southern Nigeria.
The North is made up of three zones:
- North East
- North West
- North Central
And the South is made of three:
- South East
- South West
- South-South
This is to allow for some form of equity between the two often contentious regions.
Some persons who are against zoning the PDP presidential ticket to the South East base their opposition on this agreement.
They argue that as a party, a Southerner (Obasanjo) was the president from 1999 to 2007 when a northerner (Yar’Adua) took over and led Nigeria for three years.
The next president was another Southerner (Jonathan) who led from 2010 to 2015 when the PDP lost the presidency to the APC.
They think that the next presidential candidate should logically not be from the South.
Supporters of the South East on the hand, also use the unwritten zoning arrangement as their major point of argument.
They say the current president (Buhari) is from the North, regardless of the party.
They argue further that it is only right for the presidency to be micro-zoned to the South East which is the only zone in the South that has never produced a president since 1999.
