PDP presidential ticket: Why I oppose zoning — Olawepo-Hashim

•I’m not for turn-by-turn •I want a competent president

By Dapo Akinrefon

Dr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, a former Deputy Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has declared his intention to run for President on the platform of the PDP in 2027. In this interview monitored on Arise Television, the activist-turned-politician speaks on the zoning of the Presidential ticket to the South by the PDP, the agitation for the North Central zone to produce the president, and the crisis rocking the party. Excerpts:

You know that the whole idea of zoning is not a constitutional thing. You say you want the North-Central to produce the next candidate for the PDP. How do you intend to achieve that, considering the fact that you are probably in the minority?

Well, my opposition to zoning the presidency is not because I want it to come to the North-Central. I am doing so because it is against the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not permit any party to zone an elected political office, such as the president, on account of region. It is discriminatory. That is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And this has never been done by any political party in Nigeria’s history. 

People may have their sentiments, but they don’t come to the platform of the parties, such as the National Executive Committee, to pronounce that they closed the door to a certain region. In 1999, after the June 12 annulment, there was a preponderance of opinion that there was a need to accommodate the expectation of South-Westners, so there was an unwritten consensus that the president should come from the South-West. 

But nobody from any other zone was precluded from contesting. Dr Alex Ekweme contested from the South-East. Alahi Abubakar Rimi contested from North-West. The leaders, in a mature manner, spoke through their delegates. Now, the danger in this kind of thing is that you pitch one section of the country against another, which is a very terrible low. Nigerians are not interested in where the president comes from.

This is a terrible low. Nigerians want a competent president, a president who can fix the economy, a president who can fix national security, from any zone. In the last election, the majority of votes that came for President Tinubu came from northern Nigeria; he lost in the South, where he came from. He lost in Lagos. He struggled. That is to tell you that the Nigerian electorate is really not interested in what some political elites are trying to force on the agenda. 

So, it is not about me. And you know me very well. You were on the Guardian Editorial Board when I was Deputy National Publicity Secretary. And some members of the NEC, Barnabas Gemade and others decided to extend our tenure from two years to four years. We were elected for two years. I opposed it, even though I would have been a beneficiary of that extension.

And we went ahead to fight at the National Convention. And the National Convention reversed the decision of the National Executive Committee. The National Convention said, ‘Look, what you did was wrong. If you want four years, first, you finish your two-year tenure, and then we amend the constitution and elect you for four years. But you cannot benefit retroactively. So, it is not because I am running. I did that in 2000, 25 years ago. So, I believe the party has heard. And it doesn’t matter that the majority did that. The majority did those 25 years ago. Now, you are talking about the opinion of people like the Bauchi State governor. With due respect, I have tremendous respect for him. He has the right to do whatever he wants to do as a politician.

But he was not even in politics 25 years ago. All right? Our colleagues in the NEC at that time were not lost on all these issues, and some of them supported us. But at the end of the day, the National Convention reversed the error that the NEC had committed. And so, this could be reversed by the subsequent National Executive Committee or the National Convention itself. But the beauty of the PDP is that it is a democratic party. People are free to debate, express themselves.

Is there anywhere on record, where in the course of these conversations about zoning this time around, that the PDP has taken a decision to say that when the primaries are eventually conducted, nobody can express interest in the presidential position from other geopolitical zones? Is there such a record?

There is nothing like such. You can’t preclude anybody because it’s a constitutional matter.

In the event that the party takes such a decision, do you plan to go to court, considering the fact that the courts have repeatedly ruled that they cannot inquire into the internal matters of political parties?

When it comes to the issue of fundamental human rights, it is not an internal matter of political parties. The right to contest the office of the President of Nigeria is open to all qualified Nigerians, and you cannot discriminate. Ordinarily, the court will have jurisdiction over that matter. I have been in this business for a long time, you know that. Under the military, I was detained under Decree 2. 

And the standard procedure is that the jurisdiction of the court will be housed. You cannot house the jurisdiction of the court when you have not complied with the provisions of the law itself. But then, I’m not sure that I will go to court, to be honest with you. don’t want to do that kind of thing now. I won’t be doing what I did like almost 40 years ago now. The point here is that some of the people who are saying zone the presidency to the south; some of them are the same people who are campaigning for President Tinubu’s re-election. So this campaign of zoning the presidency to the South in the PDP is a default campaign for Tinubu’s re-election.

In your opinion, zoning could be seen as discriminatory. Would you then not compare that to the provision of the federal character? Will the PDP have a better chance at the next election to right its wrong by ensuring that now it’s fair and it goes to the South?

Federal character is affirmative action to promote justice and equity. If you have one office, federal character will not preclude anyone from contesting. But if you have a cabinet, you have commissioned, federal character will say pick one per state. Federal character will not say to rotate the president. When you say other people are precluded, you are shutting the door against the rights of some people.

Take the argument of the people from the North-Central. You call North-Central. Now, when things are zoned to the South, people think about Igbo, Yoruba. When it comes to the North, they think about Hausa or Fulani. Now, when you go the way of this zoning you are talking about, the North-Central people are afraid that, and that is what has happened, they will never produce a president, they will never produce a vice president. But I am for letting us deal with issues that can unite the country, not the ones that can further divide us. You do not need this zoning to produce a competent president. A competent president can come from any section of the country. At the national convention, if people think that you are competent enough, they will vote for you. President Olusegun Obasanjo did not emerge in 1999 because of any zoning. He contested fairly on the competitive stage, and he won the ticket. 

It was only under President Jonathan that the PDP decided to give him an exclusive ticket, and he lost the election. I remember one of President Jonathan’s handlers; I was shuttling within London and Nigeria at that time. In 2014, even before the election, I said, Your boss is going to lose. He said, no, we are in the Villa, we will do everything to win. I laughed. 

I said, you cannot win. You don’t have any pathway to victory. What happened? Some politicians from Northern Nigeria, including some five governors, walked out of the PDP, and the rest is history. He lost as the sitting president. So that practice that made PDP lose cannot be a recommendation in 2025 to make PDP win in 2027.

When you talk about the North-Central, because I believe that that’s what you are speaking for, that it’s the turn of the North-Central…

I am not for turn-by-turn. I am only presenting arguments from various regions. I am not a turn-by-turn person. I have always been clear. I want a competent president, irrespective of where he or she is from. You are imposing the conversation on Nigerians. Nigerians are not interested in this conversation. 

They want a president who is competent, who will fix the economy, and who will fix national security. Not a president from North-Central or North-West. They are not interested in that. The market people are not interested in where the president comes from. People are looking for a president who can fix national security. They are looking for a president who can give them electricity from anywhere.

You have made a very solid point that let’s not leave people out that you are totally not in support of them zoning it to the south. Is this just the only thing you are going to do apart from your advocacy? Are you going to go one step further to ensure that your party does the right thing?

I said there will be many other National Executive Committee meetings before the primaries, and the National Executive Committee can reverse its steps at any point in time. Even the National Convention in Ibadan that is coming can cancel this. I gave you an example of what happened 25 years ago, when I was in the PDP NEC. The NEC made a wrong decision. The National Convention reversed the NEC.

The NEC is not the highest organ of the PDP. It is the National Convention that is the highest organ of the party. And I have given you a precedent. Democracy is a very interesting subject and this matter is not a sprint we are talking about this is a marathon. We go through the process and we see where that ends. And it will enrich democracy. That is the beauty of the PDP. It has internal mechanisms to correct itself. It is a democratic party. That is the difference between PDP and other political parties.

You have moved around a lot, so I am even surprised that you are talking about PDP…

Everybody in Nigerian politics has moved, and for good reason. I have never moved to go and benefit from anything. I have moved on principle because the parties in Nigeria are not ideological. They are not ideologically differentiated. They are just political platforms, whether it is APC or PDP or whatever. People like us look for a day when politics will be driven by ideology, not just as platforms for political parties to contest.

When I left the PDP, that was 2006, I didn’t leave voluntarily. If I were expelled from the party we fought, we came back and all that. Some people lost their lives. In fact, my colleague was assassinated. 

We did not just leave because we were looking for a greener pasture. If you are leaving a party like the APC that is in government, that is where it is green. You do not have to leave. That is where some people are rushing to. So if I leave the APC and come to PDP, then you must know that it’s for a good reason. It is not just because I am looking for a better party.

What is going on with Hashim Olawepo’s presidential ambition? Where will he be president?

Well, that is in the hands of God. I mean, that’s a question that no human being can ask or answer. God will determine when Hashim will be president. President Buhari contested many times before he became president. President Ichilema of Zambia ran four times before he became president. That’s not a question that is of any significance. Abraham Lincoln ran to the Senate, to the Governor. He never became. And then he became the best American president. That’s in the hands of God. 

Do you want to run for the presidency? And what region will that be?

That is not material because the constitution of the country does not require you to run from any region. It just requires you to have a voter card and to be qualified. Those issues are quite addressed in the constitution of Nigeria. And that is why people like us will be opposed to any measure to bring

Beyond personal ambition, there are many tendencies in the People’s Democratic Party.

Those tendencies are emerging in terms of manipulations, calculations. Where do you belong in all of these calculations?

Nyesom Wike was not speaking 25 years ago when we were speaking at the Party National Executive Committee. So, I cannot be a boy to Wike. I am a senior politician. I can’t be in his group. I can’t be his boy. For Waziri Adamawa, even when he was Vice President, we had our differences. I was never in his political camp. I belong to no camp.

I want justice. I want equity. I want the development of Nigeria. I want a return to an ideologically driven polity. A polity where the issues for consideration will be issues of economics, national security, not where you come from. The dramas that are not hidden are the ones who want President Tinubu to be re-elected. They are campaigning for him, and they are also members of the PDP.

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