South-West PDP demands Senate Presidency, SGF, party chair from Atiku

Atiku Abubakar

According to Saturday PUNCH, the Peoples Democratic Party and Atiku Abubakar, its presidential candidate, are planning how to capture support from the South-West. This came when Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, was announced as the candidate for president of the ruling All Progressives Congress.

According to sources close to the party and its presidential candidate, Tinubu's rise to prominence as a powerful politician from the South-West had altered the dynamics of the party's planning for how to acquire support from the region.

The North-West has the most registered voters in the nation, followed by the South-West, which has the states of Ekiti, Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Osun, and Oyo. The North-West is the only geopolitical zone with seven states.

As an incentive for the region, certain party chieftains in the South-West are requesting fair attention from the party and Atiku. They said that doing so would help the PDP compete well with Tinubu in the area. They said that some positions have to be assigned to the region if the party prevails in the presidential election of February 25, 2023.

For instance, the PDP in Oyo State stated that if the party won the presidential election, the senate presidency should be assigned to the South-West.

In a conversation with one of our correspondents on Friday, the party's publicity secretary in the state, Akeem Olatunji, stated that the PDP in the area wanted the development and sufficient security of the South-West in addition to the Senate presidency.

"We anticipate the Senate Presidency coming to the South-West," Olatunji stated. However, in the PDP, excellent governance is primarily what we seek. In order to help combat insecurity, we want the infrastructure to be built, the roads to be fixed, and state police to be established.

"We also want the economy to be repaired since the APC government has done terrible things to it. In order to relieve pressure on the sea port, we want the Ibadan Airport to be improved to international standards and converted into an inland dry port. The Ibadan, Oyo, and Ogbomoso Expressway is a crucial route that needs to be finished right away. If Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is elected president, I think he'll carry out all of these things and more. The various groups' secessionist movements will come to an end with decent administration and justice. The PDP will take this action.

After winning, the party in Ogun State promised to haggle for lucrative slots.

In a chat with one of our correspondents in Abeokuta on Friday, the party's publicity secretary in the state, Bankole Akinloye, stated that the state chapter will first try to ensure the party's electoral triumph before requesting its seats.

The success of the party in the elections is crucial to the Ogun State PDP, he declared. A hunter can begin considering sharing the meat once the animal is killed during the hunt. After the election, what we as a party will ask for. Without a doubt, the state will receive ministerial appointments. We have several more lucrative jobs as well as ambassadorial positions that would be demanded.

According to Mr. Kennedy Peretei, the publicity secretary for Ondo State, "The PDP has a record of balancing government and party positions throughout the six geopolitical zones,"  Those include the party's national chairman, the president, vice president, senate president, house speaker, and the secretary to the government of the federation. Undoubtedly, one of the locations will be chosen by each zone. Thus, consideration of the South-West has already been made. No zone will be underserved.

Peretei stated that the South-West could receive a specific position such as Speaker of the House of Representatives, SGF, or Party National Chairman. "Based on any one of the three, it is possible to  Leaders of the party decide on personalities and other aspects, he continued.