2023 PRESIDENTIAL TICKET ZONING TAKE CENTRE STAGE AMIDST POLITICAL PARTIES

The two main political parties in Nigeria are now actively reshuffling their cabinets and internal structure to make room for zoning of candidates for the office of the presidency come 2023. Presenetly, the ruling is amid the controversies over where the ruling All Progressives Congress might zone its presidential ticket for the 2023 election, a chieftain of the party and Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has said the founding fathers of the party won’t speak on the zoning arrangement until 2021.

He said nine among those of them who founded the APC were still in the party and that they would speak at the appropriate time whether or not there was an agreement on the zoning of the presidential ticket of the party for the 2023 election. It was gathered that fears of a possible decision by northern APC leaders to renege on the 2014 gentleman’s understanding on zoning led to the recent comment by the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola SAN, for the party to honour the gentleman’s agreement.

Meanwhile, also in the People's Democratic Party (PDP) was also battling on how to position its internet structure to facilitate zoning of presidential candidacy to the South East, this provide a tussle to replace Prince Uche Secondus the national party chairman of the PDP with a northerner ahead of the primary election for the presidential race for 2023. Umahi the rivers state governor had dumped PDP under the claim that the party from 1999 till 2023 will never allow for south East presidential candidate.

Even governors have made it known to replace secondus whose first term in office expires this month following a three years spell from december 12 2017 to December 30th 2020. Although, secondus had drawn on the support of Wike to attain the office, but Wike now feels otherwise and wanted a chance for a zoned presidential candidates come 2023. It was gathered that the Atiku camp are making preparations for 2023 and might likely support secondus to remain in power, but another school of thought to aid their preference was to allow any candidates emerge as the national chairman even if secondus have to leave office.

Its said that the Atiku camp will support anyone who will make the former Vice Presidents nomination for the 2023 race possible tires five of zoning or qualified nominations. But governors in the party will like prefer the zoning process hereby working hard to displace Uche Secondus as the national chairman to install a northerner so as to give room for south eastern presidential candidates to emerge. It was gathered that governors and stake holders in the party are buying time till they decided to change party if their wishes could not be established