ABUJA, Nigeria (TVAFRINET) – Former Governor of Niger State, Dr Babangida Aliyu – Talban Minna, has said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has settled the issue of its presidential flag bearer, for the 2023 election. He said the choice of the candidate was informed by the insistent demands of members of the party across the country.
The former governor told members of the Atiku Support Organisation (ASO) on Friday, January 7, 2022, led by its convener Dr. Victor Moses, that the PDP has zoned its presidential candidate to the north. He told members of the organisation when the latter paid on him a courtesy visit, at his residence in Minna, the capital of Niger State.
The former governors position is contrary to the recent reports and decisions coming from some of the state governors from the southern part of the country, who are critical of where the party’s presidential ticket was zoned to.
Some of them have laid bare their minds that the Presidential candidate of the party be zoned to the south. It is in view of this instance, that, the Southern Governors Forum , in a meeting in 2021, collectively resolved that it would campaign against any political party that puts forward a northern presidential candidate in the 2023 election.
While praising the convener of the group and its members for visiting him and holding strong to their political conviction, trust and campaign for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s emergence as the presidential flag-bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party, in 2023 election, Dr Aliyu said : “In our zoning agreement, we have agreed to re-zone (presidential candidate) to the North as requested by others but we have agreed written openly as a result of what has happened that any candidate from any part of the country can now contest this election.”
