Boni Haruna, Atiku’s associate, says no zoning — PDP presidential ticket open to all members

Boni Haruna, former governor of Adamawa, says the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential ticket is open to all members.

On September 30, governors elected on the platform of the PDP voted for the zoning of the party chairmanship to the north — an early indication that the presidential ticket may go to the south.

Subsequently, on October 14, Iyorchia Ayu, former senate president, emerged as the consensus candidate for the national chairmanship position of the PDP.

But speaking on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, on Friday, Haruna, who is a member of the party’s board of trustees, said as an opposition party, PDP does not have the luxury of being rigid when it comes to the presidential ticket.

He also said the goal of the party is to win power in 2023, and as such “whoever will win the presidency should be the one”.

“As an opposition party, I’m one of those that believe that we don’t have the luxury of being rigid on the zoning of the presidency,” he said.

“Because the goal of a party is to win power, if you take power out of politics then it is no longer politics. So we are as an opposition party, we don’t have the luxury of being rigid. For us whoever that can be our rallying point and win the presidency for us should be the one.

“There is no need for specification, by the decision of the national executive committee, it is obvious it is open to everybody.

“Our concern is who can win the presidency for us, that is why leaving the presidency open to all has become necessary and compelling. 

“But here again it was decided that these positions should be swapped again.

“There was a caveat that the presidency and other elective positions at the executive and legislative level, the zoning of party positions has nothing to with these positions.”