PDP can’t decide on 2023 now, Secondus declares

•Regrets Buhari’s refusal to address N’Assembly on insecurity

The decision on which geopolitical zone to run for the 2023 presidency on the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) cannot be taken now, its National Chairman, Uche Secondus, stated yesterday.

Briefing newsmen yesterday in Abuja on the activities of the party’s leadership in the last three years, Secondus explained that a committee had been set up in that respect.

According to him, the panel, led by Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, has been mandated to investigate why the party lost the 2019 election and make recommendations.

His words: “I know you (media) are interested in zoning, but our party has a clear method of doing things. After the general election, we set up a panel to appraise our performance and make necessary recommendations.

“The Governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Bala Mohammed, is heading the committee, and they are still working. We must study our last outing before looking ahead. We can’t be talking of zoning when we have not appraised how we fared in the last election.”

Asked if overtures were being made to former President Goodluck Jonathan following the clamour for Igbo presidency, Secondus stated: “I believe that whoever that is interested in 2023, including the former President, can run because the PDP is a party for all.”

He insisted: “I stand by my position that the Governor Mohammed-led committee is still working. They are coming out with a report on why we lost and by the time they finish, we will make a decision that would not just be for the National Working Committee (NWC), but for the entire party.”

The PDP chair pointed out that “the state of the nation today is such that politics or anything concerning 2023 should take the backstage.”

He argued that “Nigeria is in a comatose state today, and that should be our concern now.”

Secondus lamented that President Muhammadu Buhari reneged on his promise to address the National Assembly yesterday on pervasive insecurity.

“This back and front from the President on the vital issue as security that is overwhelming our nation underscores our position as an opposition party that nobody is in charge, and that this is a broken government,” he added.

The national chairman further said: “Disregarding the nation’s parliament is disregarding Nigerian people because they are representatives of the people. The truth which is worrisome is that the President either does not know what is happening or does know what to do, otherwise he should not be afraid to face the people.”