Former Minister for Transport, and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ebenezer Babatope, has called for the zoning 2023 presidency to Southeast region of the country.
The PDP leader stated this in an interview with Sunday Sun monitored by IGBERE TV on Sunday.
Speaking on the zoning of the opposition party’s presidential ticket for the 2023 general elections among other issues, Babatope said “In true spirit of federalism, Southeast should be given a chance.”
Below is the excerpts of the interview;
You are former member of the PDP Board of Trustees. Recently one of your party man, former Governor Gabriel Suswan of Benue said the party is going to zone its presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections to the North, how would you react to that?
As far as I am concerned, the PDP has the final say. But left to me, I would have wanted that somebody from the Southeast be nominated, so that it can go round the whole country to satisfy the principle of federalism. But if the party decides to go to the North again, no problem. The party would have taken into consideration, many of the things that we are going to examine in terms of winning the election. And if former Governor Suswan said that, there must be reason for that. But we must know in our mind that Southeast deserves to be given a shot. If we give it to the North again, after the North, it must go to the Southeast.
Has the party at any point discussed the zoning for the 2023 general elections or was Suswan just giving his opinion?
Suswan is near the corridor of power in the PDP. He should know what he is talking about. But the party, as far I am concerned, has never tabled it for discussion and no decision has been passed to anybody as regards that. But like I said, the PDP has the right to decide who will be the candidate based on what is happening now. And I know that nobody hates the Southeast. I want the party to satisfy the principle of federalism, by making sure that we pick somebody from there.
