Abuja — President Goodluck Jonathan finally broke his silence over the zoning formula of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday, as he declared that the office of the president is not zoned going by the party's constitution.
The president made this clarification at the national headquarters of the party, when he returned his nomination form to contest the party's presidential primaries. Jonathan also said he was the most experienced person to the office of the president.
He spoke at an interactive session with the physically challenged, women, children and the aged, as part of "Nigeria At 50" celebrations. He said that having been a deputy governor, acting governor, governor, vice president, acting president and president, there is hardly any presidential aspirant that has his experiences.
Jonathan returned his nomination form to the office of the national organising secretary of the party, Prince Uche Secondus at about 3.12p.m, before proceeding to the office of the national chairman, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, where he fielded questions from news men.
Asked what is his reaction to the clamour by some presidential aspirants that the office of the president is zoned to the north until 2015, the president declared: "Either by virtue of the PDP constitution, or in practice, the presidency of Nigeria has never been zoned to any part of the country."
Jonathan maintained that the party's constitution only warrants it to zone offices that it has 'reasonable control over'. He listed such offices to include, the office of the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives and other principal offices of the National Assembly, the national chairman of the party, national secretary of the party and their likes at the state level.
The president said that before these offices are zoned, the president and vice-president must have emerged. While assuring that he would not do anything that is at variance with the party's constitution, Jonathan stated emphatically that, "there is nothing like zoning the presidency to the north or zoning the presidency to the south."
Find below, the full text of Jonathan's response to zoning.
"The issue you asked about zoning. This is the first time I have to comment on zoning. I have decided to talk about it, but, at the appropriate time, you will know a little more. But, either by virtue of the PDP constitution, or in practice, the presidency of Nigeria has never been zoned to any part of the country.
It has never been zoned or maybe I would read some sections of our own constitution too. There is the concept of zoning and rotation in the PDP constitution to encourage power to move from one part to the other and it is not limited to the office of the president.
We will read that section from the least office (from councillorship to the presidency) to encourage rotation and the issue of zoning, PDP does not zone the presidency, but PDP zones offices they have absolute control or reasonable control. The fact also is that the chairman of the party, deputy chairman, secretary, these are offices that the PDP has absolute control and normally PDP will zone.
"The office of the president and other elective offices like Senate president, speaker and National Assembly officers, PDP has reasonable control as long as we are in the majority. Those offices could be zoned. But, before you zone those offices, the president and the vice-president would have first emerge. I am saying this because I was involved.
If you take the situation of the 2007 election for example, when Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and myself emerged, then we met. Ali is here, he was the chairman of the party then, the former President Olusegun Obasanjo, our late President Yar'Adua, myself, the secretary of the party then, Ojo Maduekwe and Tony Anenih, we sat down in the Glass House. The North would have gotten a president who is from the North West, we have a vice-president who is from the South-South, then, where should we place the party chairman, then we decided it has to go to the South East.
Where do we place the Senate president, we decided it has to go to the North Central. And now we zoned all these other offices. These are offices that PDP has some reasonable control. But before you zone them, the president and vice president first must emerge.
"If you look at the tradition of PDP, after zoning those offices, if for any reason any of them resigned, then you call on that zone to pick a replacement. That is why when Ogbulafor resigned, the party had to go to the South East to pick the current chairman (Nwodo).
"When Patricia Etteh resigned as Speaker of the House of Representatives, the party had to go to the South West. The party did not just go to the South. So, if anybody is making that argument, then of course, he can only say ok, the North West, then, nobody from the North Central zone can even aspire to the presidency or the North East. PDP operates on the six zonal structure.
"The concept of zoning has been in PDP from inception. We have the PDP 1999 constitution and if you ask the chairman will give you. This is the very first constitution and the zoning concept is there, but not expressly stated. Then, 2001 constitution, it says that in Article 7 (2) ( c ), "in pursuance of the principles of equity, justice and fairness, the party shall adhere to the policy of rotation and zoning of party and public elective offices and it shall be enforced by the appropriate executive committee at all levels from councillor to presidency"
"Even at state level, the PDP encourages the governorship position to be rotated. The other offices are zoned after the governor and the deputy governor have emerged. Let me take two states and give you example at that level for those who want to over drag this.
"And this was in 2001. Let me digress a little. Those who are arguing, especially those who are also aspirants, who are arguing about this zoning, ask them, were they interested in contesting the Presidency of this country in 2003? Were they interested in 2007? Of course, if by our practice, PDP has a zoning arrangement that the presidency will be in the North for eight years, then south for eight years, then North for eight years, in 2003 no northern aspirant would have developed interest. But in 2003, you know that some of these people who are talking about zoning, it created a lot of havoc in the party, because they wanted to contest, even against Obasanjo, who had served only for one term.
"Then, in 2007, we had about 28 aspirants. If it was purported to have been zoned to the North, then you wouldn't have expected any southerner, but we even had about 16, more southerners that contested for the presidency. So, even in practice, the PDP constitution, the one I read, I decided to read from 2001, to tell you that it is not a recent issue. It has been a part of the party. This is 2009.
The 2009 constitution, the current one, they lifted it exactly, no word is altered. The process of zoning is not limited to the presidency alone. The concept of rotation, at the councillorship level, the party encourages us to shift councillorship to either from one community to the other or one compound to the other or from one family to the other that make up the ward. At the local government chairmanship level, we encourage that the post should move from one ward to the other so that no one ward can monopolise the seat. It goes on for all the seats."
"In Kwara State, you see that Saraki, whose term is completing, he is leaving, because the Nigerian constitution allows for two tenure. But, of course, the younger sister is contesting. If the party has zoned the position, definitely, somebody from that senatorial district cannot contest, except the younger sister is from a different senatorial district.
"If you look at the situation in Bayelsa State, you know my history. I am from Brass Senatorial District. I took over to finish Alamieyesiegha's tenure, just like it has happened at the federal level. I was to go back and contest and the party had no objection. I even got the party ticket after the primary.
But because I was now drafted to contest the vice-presidency seat, the party set up a committee, Dr. Ahmadu Ali is here, and gave Timipreye Sylva, who is from my senatorial district. The party would have said no, no, no, it had to go back may be to the Central Senatorial District, where Alamieyesiegha comes from, let them bring the aspirant form there.
