Ahmed Makarfi

Senator Ahmed Makarfi, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has insisted that the party will allow aspirant from the Southern part of the country to contest for its 2019 presidential ticket as it has already been zoned to the North.

It will be recalled that Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has indicated his intention to contest for the presidency under the platform of PDP in 2019.

The Governor, who had repeatedly declared himself as president- in- waiting was took his campaign to the recent convention of PDP in Abuja and was accompanied by supporters who carried ‘Fayose for 2019 President placards.’

The governor and his supporters were also dressed in T-Shirts proclaiming his ambition to succeed incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.

Fayose who declared himself as Nigeria’s president- in =waiting at the burial of former Governor Danbaba Suntai in Taraba State last weekend had also launched his campaign for the 2019 presidency on the social media.

But speaking to journalists in Kaduna on Monday, Makarfi insisted that the position of the party on the zoning formula was supreme while asking those already campaigning for the presidency from Southern part of the country to stop.

He added that while Nigerians have the constitutional rights to aspire any elective position, PDP members are expected to respect the position of the party on matter zoning.

“Anything that has to do with the party, it is from the leadership of the party that you will hear and that is why I have reaffirmed that the zoning position of the party have not changed. It was the decision of the Port-Harcourt May 21, 2017 Convention. The decision is supreme.

“But let me also remind you that while the presidency was zone to the South in 1999, some aspirants in the North contested and went against it in their rights; but the party went with the decision it took. So, it is up to an individual to make a choice whether to abide by what the party said or go against it.

“However, at the end of the day , it is the position that the party adopted that will prevail. We won’t make choices for individual but my advice is that individual should respect the decision. I have not talked to anybody to know the rationale behind that but I will not alter the decision that the party has taken.

“The Presidency remain zone to the North and I know for sure that the position of the governors, the National Assembly, the BoT as well as the state chairmen of the party.”