From Adetutu Folasade-Koyi and Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Committee on zoning for the 2023 general elections, Samuel Ortom, has said the committee would come up with a resolution that will be acceptable to all stakeholders in the party.
He stated this after a meeting of the committee at the Benue State Lodge, Abuja. However, he said the committee would reconvene Tuesday next week to continue with deliberations.
The zoning committee consists of 37 members drawn from the 36 states and Abuja. It was set up by PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) a fortnight ago and saddled with the responsibility of deciding how elective offices, including the presidential ticket will be zoned. The panel is expected to conclude its assignment on Wednesday next week.
Tension has been mounting in PDP over the zoning of the party’s 2023 presidential ticket with stakeholders expressing divergent views on the issue.
Nevertheless, the Benue State governor said though the committee did not reach a conclusion on the zoning at yesterday’s meeting, the parley was devoid of tension.
“So far, all the members are quite understanding. There wasn’t any form of tension. All the members understand ourselves that zoning is very key and we are looking at it that at the end of it all, we will do something that everybody will accept and we will go ahead as one big family and win the 2023 elections.”
Meanwhile, Governor Ortom, has vowed he would complete the assignment without blemish.
“I have no reason to resign,” Ortom said in reacting to reports by Arewa Youths Consultative Forum (AYCF) led by Yerima Shettima, who accused him of compromising his position when he hosted Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.
Wike was in Makurdi, on Sunday, where he declared his ambition to contest the 2023 presidential election.
Shetima had alleged that the N200 million donated by Wike to help rebuild the burnt Katsina Ala and High Level Makurdi markets in Benue State was to compromise Ortom.
But, Ortom, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Nathaniel Ikyur, berated Shetima for being insensitive to the plight of the distressed people of Benue State wondering how a gesture to distressed people would compromise him.
“I am shocked that some people can be insensitive to the plights of others who are distressed. What my brother, Governor Wike did was to identify with our pains and offered succour to the best of his ability.”
