Without a doubt, the recent political development in Rivers State has changed political calculations in the state ahead of the 2015 governorship election.

While the controversy over who becomes Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s successor is still raging, the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party threw its members off balance with an announcement that it was jettisoning its age-long convention of zoning.

Before this announcement, there was a political understanding which favoured the rotation of the office of the governor between the upland and riverine areas in the state.

The Ogoni people, who belong to the riverine areas as well as their upland counterparts, did not spare any opportunity to tell the world that it was their turn to produce the next governor.

However, the state Chairman of the PDP, Mr. Felix Obuah, dismissed these agitations when he declared that eligible members of the party, irrespective of ethnic nationality or senatorial district, were free to seek the party’s nomination to contest the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

Obuah, who read from a communiqué issued after the state PDP executive meeting, explained that the decision to allow all the senatorial districts and ethnic nationalities to contest the 2015 governorship election was to avoid the imposition of any candidate on the people. He pointed out that the party’s decision will also make it possible for the best governorship candidate to emerge.

He expressed confidence that the state PDP had the capacity to manage the number of aspirants this decision would throw up.

Obuah said, “The state chapter of the party has not and shall not zone the governorship ticket of the party to any ethnic nationality, senatorial district or local government area. Consequently, all constitutionally qualified members of the party are free to vie for the party’s ticket to allow for the best candidate to emerge.

“We are saying we will allow everybody, no matter their sex; no matter their culture. This is because we want to present the best for Rivers State. No matter how many they (governorship aspirants) are, we are capable of screening them and the best candidate will be presented to stand for election.”

Not everyone appears satisfied with the party chairman’s reasoning. A group of party supporters under the aegis of the Rivers PDP Third Force Movement described the decision as the highest form of bias.

The group said the chairman’s announcement was at variance with the zoning principle which was part and parcel of the party’s tradition since 1999. This, members of the group argue, must be strictly adhered to. Secretary-General of the socio-political group, Mr. Oprite Amachree, warned that the party stood the risk of losing the 2015 elections if the decision was not reversed.


http://www.punchng.com/politics/battle-for-amaechis-seat-unsettles-rivers-pdp/

@OP, why read tru ur post when the topic says it all. Time is money!

And U expect me to read all this despite my hatered on politics? No.1 ur post is too long. No.2 i'm just here to find may be i can see a sensible comment that i'll gain from.

@ op, whoever wrote this junk has neva been to Rivers State,
I stopped reading in the first paragraph when u stated that Ogoni is riverine and that PDP had a rotation policy between Upland and Riverine.
Junk journalism at best.