Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is no doubt, very anxious to reclaim the power that it lost in 2015. At the same time, the party is faced with a tough decision ahead of the 2023 presidential election. It should be recalled that for a while now, governors elected under the party, have continued to insist that the party’s presidential ticket should be zoned to the Southern region.
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The decision of the PDP Governors, to insist on a southern candidate, is based on the fact that the incumbent President, is from the Northern region, and the party’s ticket for the 2019 election, went to the Northern region. However, such a move could affect the party’s chances of victory at the 2023 presidential election. The reason for this is that zoning of the ticket, would limit the party’s choice of candidate ahead of the election.
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Should the party zone its ticket to the Southern region, all eligible aspirants from the North will automatically be exempted from the race. This may affect the party’s chances of victory due to the fact that the North has the highest voting power, and based on precedence, are more likely to vote for a candidate from the region, if presented as the party’s flag-bearer for the 2023 presidential election. This could get worse if the All Progressives Congress (APC), should field a Northerner as its candidate.
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Arguably, the PDP would stand a better chance of winning the 2023 presidential election, if the party carefully weighs its chances with aspirants from the North and South, and nominates someone that is widely acceptable by Nigerians, irrespective of ethnicity, or religion. At the same time, zoning of the 2023 Presidency to the South, without putting into considerations, the candidate that has a better chance of winning the election for the party, could see the PDP, suffer another defeat in the hand of the APC.
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In view of this, it is my opinion that the PDP in its quest to return to power in 2023, should give every aspirant a level playing ground, and in the end, nominate its most viable candidate irrespective of where the person comes from. This is because, dancing to the tone of the Governors who want the party’s ticket to go to the South, may satisfy a few individuals, and end up denying the party the chance of securing victory at the polls.
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