By Agboola Bayo
Ibadan
As the race for the next Peoples Democratic Party ((PDP) National Chairmanship hots up, the party’s National Vice Chairman for the South West, Dr Eddy Olafeso, yesterday, declared that the zone has no anointed candidate for the post.
Speaking with journalists at the end of the party’s stakeholders meeting, the national vice chairman said there was no plan by the South West PDP leaders to force any of the national chairmanship aspirants to step down for anybody.
Olafeso expressed the fear that the failure of the zone to reduce the number of the aspirants from the zone might likely affect its chances of winning the slot.
“We will want to plead with all contestants that we should reduce the field, if we don’t reduce the field you get fragmented, and now that we’re competing with the south south, it’s very easy for us to share votes in a way that will be inimical to our dream of producing the chairman,” he said.
He added that “ the position of the zone is emphatic, its unassailable historically, we are suppose to produce the national Chairman of the party. But in a party that has six zones, we can only persuade and plead with other zones to see reasons with us and that is what the leadership of the zone has been doing. We still believe that they will see reasons and the South west will produce the Chairman of the party.” he said.
“From 1999 till date, we are yet to produce the chairman for the party. And we have responsibilities, we have over 12 million votes in the south west. It has always been the swing zone when it comes to general elections in the country from 1960 till date. Those are the things we said the party should see to and ensure that we are given what we are entitled to. But we are standing together to see that we get what we truly deserve,” he said.
