Port Harcourt meeting: Showunmi writes PDP governors
Bankole Taiwo, Abeokuta
As the governors elected under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) converged in Port Harcourt on Monday for their “Rescue Nigeria project” meeting, a chieftain of the party from Ogun State, Mr Segun Showunmi has saddled them with the responsibility of ensuring that the party fields a presidential candidate who is competent and has all it takes to unite the country and help rejuvenate ailing economy come 2023.
Segun Showunmi, Spokesman of Atiku Abubakar 2019 Presidential Campaign said such presidential candidate must however not come from Southwest, Northwest or South south because these regions, had in the past, produced presidents for the country.
He said the eligible regions to produce the next presidential candidate for the party, in the spirit of fairness and equity are North Central, North East or South East.
In a letter personally signed by him and made available to journalists at Abeokuta on Monday, Showunmi said “one major consideration for our next presidential candidate is that such a person must be who can get the job done, who can unite the country, who can assemble a great team and who can hit the ground running from day one.
“By the time the APC government of President Buhari is done, we will be in so much debt. The value of our Naira will be so low, underemployment and unemployment will be so high, the desperation of a high youth population will be so high that we can least afford a kindergarten president and commander in chief.
“Everyone wants to be President after Buhari but not everyone can do the work that a post-Buhari President will be called upon to do. Presidential powers and privileges mean nothing if the prerequisite experience is absent. We cannot jump from frying pan to fire”.
Showunmi revealed that “by 2023, three zones will be most eligible – South East, North East and North Central. We must avoid the danger of a baton passing between just the North West and the South West. This is way too risky. With the agitation of the South East now, we can least afford, as a country, this type of agitation from the other zones who as of right must feel a need to occupy the Number One Seat in the country”.
He has equally urged the governors to take a second look at the party structure in some States warning that a situation whereby the structure of the party is put in the hands of the highest bidder just as he said it is in Ogun State would eventually spell doom for the party.
Showunmi explained that “we must never shy away from looking at our state structures and reconciling them with proper democratic ideals. We cannot build something on a shaky foundation. Just let us take a cue from how deliberate our rivals are at managing the issues in their party.
“A hurried manipulative favoritism will not give us the desired result. A good example is Ogun State where Hon Ladi Adebutu has practically pocketed the party. I wonder how realistic it is for a person from the same ward as an incumbent to become the leader, candidate, owner of structure, and giver of election tickets.
“And this is done in the most annoying and meddlesome manner than a state with Ogun’s preeminence can take. I use this as an example of what exists in a few other locations”.
The PDP chieftain also in the letter underscored the need for the governors to stay committed to supporting the newly elected Senator Iyorcha Ayu-led national leadership of the opposition party through consistent and prompt funding saying that anything short of this was undesirable as it would hamper the progress of the party.
Showunmi in the letter, equally called for further strengthening of the information management of the party for proper propagation of its ideals and programmes especially when the general elections is a year away.
The PDP stalwart also re-echoes his call for restructuring insisting that it is one step the country must take to solve some of its nagging developmental challenges.
