Tambuwal To PDP: Get power before sharing it

The Sokoto State governor and a presidential aspirant on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has asked the party to strategise and work towards winning the elections rather than making zoning its principal objective, reports The Guardian.

Tambuwal spoke, yesterday, when he met with the caucus of former House of Representatives’ principal officers in Abuja.

While not making outright call for rejection of zoning, he advised the party to gun for and clinch the position of President of the country in the forthcoming election in 2023.

Subsequently, once the Presidency is in its kitty, he said it could then decide on how to allocate important positions to deserving members.

Referring to the calls for zoning of the Presidential nomination to a section of the country by some members of the party, Tambuwal reminded the PDP of how All Progressives Congress (APC), in 2015, ignored zoning and decided on retaining the presidential slot in Katsina State, from where late President Yar’adua hailed.

“You can share tickets because you can tear it up, but you must plan to win. PDP must accept this reality. The ticket must be balanced, as zoning or any Muslim-Muslim ticket or Christian-Christian ticket would be dead on arrival and is a recipe for disaster,” he said.

He further counselled, pledging not to be lopsided in the allocation of all offices if he is considered for nomination to run for the position of president by the party.

On the need to consider competence and capacity and patriotism when electing the next President, Tambuwal stated: “I am coming with my pan-Nigerian content, competences in handling federal and governance issues, in addition to having references in all the 360 constituencies in the country who can vouch for me.

“It has never been this bad for governance in this country, therefore, the President we need is one that understands the country, inclusive in his dealings and one that will allow the rule of law to flourish,” Tambuwal said, explaining that he has all the qualities and what the other aspirants in the PDP lack,” he said.

The Sokoto State governor said he is closer to youths than all those seeking to be President in 2023.

“From the array of those running for President now, I dare say that I am closer to the youths,” he emphasised, noting, “age is a factor for what we are doing today,” just as he pointed to many of his achievements as Governor of Sokoto state despite the paucity of funds accruing to the state.

Looking at how governorship and House of Representatives elections were contested and won in Anambra and Plateau states respectively, he analysed factors that the party should take into consideration if it wants to win the elections next year, which include, demographics, avoiding intra-party wrangling, voter education and rigging, saying the PDP should be strategic in its nomination of who will bear its flag next year.

He said with the APC being strong in the Northern region, with 14 governors; and the PDP sharing the same position with it in the Southern region, the PDP would have to “think well, plan well and win this election.”

Tambuwal, who received accolades and endorsements to run for the position of president from his colleagues at the reunion, was accompanied by a former governor of Sokoto state, Attahiru Bafarawa, a former Deputy Governor in the state, Alhaji Mukhtar Shagari and Engr. Bello Suleiman.

HOWEVER, the Special Adviser Media and Publicity to the Governor, Muhammad Bello, has debunked the statement credited to the governor that ‘Southsouth can’t win Presidency’

The statement said: “The attention of Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has been drawn to a mischievious headline and story by a newspaper, that said a certain region of the country cannot win the Presidency.

“Both the headline and what follows are a distortion, misrepresentation and mis-presentation of the facts as was stated by him.

“There were no innuendo or ‘veiled’ reference by Gov. Tambuwal to any statement made or credited to the South-south Governors during his reunion meeting with former states and federal legislators at the Fraiser Suites in Abuja today (yesterday).

“He didn’t say the PDP or his colleagues, the South-south Governors or any aspirant from the region couldn’t win PDP Presidency.

“The report is simply malicious and should be disregarded as fallacious, divisive and outright blackmail.”

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MEANWHILE, ahead of its presidential primary slated for May 29, 2022, the party had set up zoning committees across the 36 states with a view to ensuring that the seat is zoned to the region that will boost its chances of winning the presidential election next year.

The Guardian gathered that the much touted zoning in PDP might have become a dream, despite the Southern governors of the party’s insistence that the presidency in 2023 should come to the South. There is a sharp division in the party leadership over the region to produce the next President.

Amid the disagreement, stakeholders are unanimous in calling on the party to toe the line of All Progressives Congress, APC, by zoning the presidency to the South.

They said any arrangement short of southern presidency might not have the support of the entire South. Many pointed to a lack of cohesion in the determination of what they want. While trying to please everybody, the party has left its guard open for some ambitious members of the party to call the shot.

On Sunday, a former Senate President, Bukola Saraki; Tambuwal, and his Bauchi State counterpart, Bala Mohammed, met in Bauchi to work on endorsing one northern candidate ahead of the party’s presidential primary.

According to Saraki, they will also be meeting former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on the matter even though he has already obtained the N40m presidential form and declared his intention to contest.

After the meeting at the Ramat House, Bauchi, which lasted about two and a half hours, the former Senate President said the three of them that had shown interest in contesting the Presidency in 2023 under the PDP from the North had resolved to pick a consensus aspirant among them.