Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has said it would another round of horror if power is zoned to another version of Buhari in 2023, irrespective of where the President comes from.
Ortom who appeared to be a bit reserved on the zoning debate, said President Muhammadu Buhari is a product of zoning, but only succeeded in doing more damages to the country instead of improving or making better what he inherited from the past administration.
The Benue State Governor stated this while answering questions from journalists in Makurdi shortly after he returned from his party’s meeting in Abuja. He therefore, said while zoning ensures inclusivity, it should matter more what a candidate can offer to the country, instead of having another stooge as President.
He said, “Is zoning the problem of Nigeria? I have always said that zoning is good but it’s the cause of the marginalisation of our people and the cause of the poverty. Beyond that, America where we borrowed the presidential system of government from, you will recall that they don’t do zoning. George Bush was president of America. At a point, two of his sons were governors and one of his sons became president of that country.
“So, it doesn’t matter. You look for the best and that is where we are getting to 20 years after this current experience. Some of us are also looking at where we will look for credibility. We will be objective to get somebody who will lead us at the party level and even at the presidential level. I think this is the thinking of all Nigerians.”
“We should look for the best, somebody who can deliver. Yes, from Goodluck Jonathan, we zoned to the north and President Buhari is there, are we getting the dividends of democracy? Has the country been secured? Have we been able to improve on the economy of this country? Have we been able to improve in education or in infrastructure? That is the problem.
“So, you just find zoning and do micro zoning and go to look for a stooge who doesn’t have much to add value to the development of the country. But I think that nobody is against what we have done.
“Yes, we (the Peoples Democratic Party) made some mistakes in the past until 2015. But now, PDP has apologised and we are willing to move forward from there.”