By; AMOS TAUNA, Kaduna
The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), has described as contradictory and deceptive leaving the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential ticket open to all zones in the country while zoning the National chairmanship position to the north.
Recall that the National Executive Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party in its meeting zones the National chairmanship of the party to the North.
The spokesman of CNG, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman in a statement in Kaduna on Saturday noted that the decision of the party is a contradictory threat to the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria.
He lamented, “It is contradictory and deceptive for the PDP NEC to leave the contest for the Party’s presidential ticket open to all while restricting the national championship position to the North.”
According to the group, it is as much an abuse of acceptable democratic process as it as is contradictory, deceptive, ultra vires and alien to political party traditions everywhere.
It noted that one fails to understand why the PDP would rather exclude the entire Southern Nigeria and deny them the right to vote and be voted for in a free and fair process for the highest position in the party and at the same time, allow open contest for the presidential ticket.
The group described the position of PDP that it is a veiled tactic to deceive the North into ultimately ceding the presidential slot which must be rejected by insisting on an inclusive process for all party and offices in all the parties.
CNG said that it is unfortunate that the PDP after the humiliation of 2015 has still not learnt from lessons of history and is still bent on enforcing arbitrary, undemocratic practices that are harmful to internal party democracy and potentially threaten the consolidation of democracy in the country.
CNG explained that as members of the group, they are insisting on the emergence of a purposeful, credible, capable, and result-oriented leadership that would be achieved through a free, fair and inclusive process and not by deceit, blackmail, threat or grandstanding.
The group, therefore, reiterated its call for all the political parties to internal democratic processes to prevail in the selection of both party and elective positions freely and fairly without the need to disenfranchise any group of people or tribe for whatever intent and purpose.
The group insisted, “We therefore warm that any party that attempts to disenfranchise any group or section of the country stands to be roundly rejected by the North.”
