Politics

Why Fayose cannot run for president – Ex-PDP chair, Nwodo

Published

7 years ago

September 29, 2017

A member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Okwesilieze Nwodo, says Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, cannot contest in the party’s primary poll for 2019 presidential election.

He stated this on Thursday in Abuja shortly after Mr. Fayose’s formal declaration of his intention to contest for the position of president of Nigeria in 2019 on PDP’s platform.

Mr. Nwodo, a former National Chairman of the PDP, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that party’s ideology forbade Mr. Fayose and other members from the South from contesting in the presidential race in 2019.

He said that the ideology would be followed to the letter in spite the governor’s declaration.

“Fayose cannot run and I will tell you my reason,” he said.

“When we formed PDP, the first battle we fought and won as a party was to zone the presidency to the South.

“Those of us from the south made a case because in the first republic, prime minister was from the North; in the second republic, the president was from the North, and in the third republic, a southerner won and the election was annulled.

“There was no way we could go back to the south and say let’s elect a northerner again without giving the south a slot.