Media mogul and chieftain of PDP, the People’s Democratic Party, Aleogho Raymond Dokpesi, has said that nobody from the South East of Nigeria can win the primary election for the office of president in the PDP in Nigeria’s 2023 elections.
“I don’t beat around the bush; I treat issues as they are and as I understand them. There is no candidate from the South East, even I dare say there is no candidate from the entire South that you put up against the North today that will be able to win. It is going to be a humongous challenge,” said Dokpesi.
“If we are the Nigerians, I want us to be, if we believe in the unity of Nigeria and we also believe in equity, justice, and fairness, there is no reason we should not give it to the South East if the slot is given to the South.
However, is there equity, justice, and fairness in Nigeria’s politics? The answer is NO! So, don’t let us over flog the matter. I think that whoever emerges as the president of Nigeria would have to compensate the people of the South East if truly, we want the emergence of the new Nigeria,” Dokpesi said, in an interview.
“It depends on your arithmetic and what you are looking for. I belong to the People’s Democratic Party and not the APC. So, the APC is free to do whatever they want to use as a strategy. In 2015, we presented a Southern candidate while they presented a Northern candidate and they were said to have won. So, what is wrong with us presenting a Northern candidate now while they present a Southern candidate?”
“In the PDP, you are aware of the fact that President Obasanjo had a full eight years as a Southern candidate; he was succeeded by Umar Yar’Adua, a northern candidate. Yar’Adua used two and half years during his tenure and the remaining of his tenure was used by Jonathan, who did another four years, making a total of six years for Jonathan. And since then, we have not had a candidate from the North. So, the North is still in deficit of the presidency if we are to look at it.
“Some people decided to be abstract but I am a scientist that is why I have taken it how it is. So, if you aggregate them, you can see that there is still a deficit in favour of the North. So, that should be part of what PDP should put into consideration. I don’t care about the age of the candidate but the experience, the capacity, the knowledge about Nigeria and the ability to unify this country.
“The fact that President Buhari is adjudged to be a complete failure does not mean that every Northerner is a failure; it is just a lack of policy. We are able to find liberal Northerners, competent ones that are able to fraternize irrespective of the religious, tribe, and political differences and unify this country. So, our main aim is to get the person who can unify Nigeria.
Confirming the insinuation that he is asking that the PDP zones its presidency to the North in 2023 because of his support for the former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, Dokpesi stated that Atiku Abubakar is the candidate to beat in 2023.
“He is competent, he is a liberal northerner, who is ready to sacrifice. He is not coming there to amass wealth or looking for a name. He is coming to serve Nigeria. He is religion-tolerant, tribe-tolerant to all parts of the country. I don’t know of any state or major town in Nigeria that Atiku can’t boast of more than 10 friends.
“So, that is the caliber of person to lead Nigeria. I offer Atiku to Nigerians for them to see a clear difference between him and the president that is there now,” Dokpesi said.
