PDP Advises Fayose Against 2019 Presidency …Why He Can’t Run -Nwodo

The National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prince Dayo Adeyeye has advised  the Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose to jettison his presidential ambition under the party, maintaining that PDP has zoned the presidential ticket to the North.
Adeyeye gave the advice after Governor Fayose made public his ambition to contest the coming 2019 presidential election.
Recall that Governor Fayose had while declaring his ambition to become the next President of Nigeria said that he was going straight to the Presidential villa. He had equally said that he would unseat President Muhammadu Buhari through the ballots.
Fayose has equally sent out letters to some leaders of the party, intimating them of his decision to contest the 2019 presidential election.
A copy of the letter signed by Governor Fayose and  obtained by newsmen read thus: “My dear leader, it is with deep sense of responsibility that I write to inform you of my intention to seek the ticket/mandate of our party to contest the 2019 presidential election, considering your support and commitment towards our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party, it becomes imperative to keep you informed and seek your support.
“This ambition is however without prejudice to our party’s position, but in the overall interest of the party and our country.
“I urge that all hands should be on deck to ensure victory in our quest to return to the Presidential Villa, Abuja in 2019.”
However, the National Publicity Secretary, PDP, Prince Adeyeye said Fayose is wasting his time.
He said the party cannot allow a non-Northerner fly its presidential ticket because it has zoned it to the North.
He said what Governor Fayose is eligible to contest for is the office of the National Chairman which he said the party zoned to the South.
He said, being a prominent member of PDP and equally being present at the meeting when the zoning was made, Governor Fayose ought not to seek to disrespect the decision of the party.
According to him, “The highest organ of the party, which is the national convention, zoned the presidential ticket of the PDP to the North. That has not changed. The same national convention zoned the position of the national chairman to the South. The convention has yet to change any of these two.
“That (national convention) is the supreme organ of the party. Those decisions are binding on all members of the party. Nobody can alter these decisions.
“The governor is a member of the party and was at the convention where these decisions were taken. As a leader of the party, one expected the governor to respect the party and its decisions.
“If someone in such an office is breaking the decisions of the party, what do you expect from the rank and file?”
Also speaking, Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo, a Board of Trustees (BoT) member of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, cannot contest in the partys primary poll for 2019 presidential election.
He stated this yesterday in Abuja shortly after Fayose’s formal declaration of his intention to contest for the position of president of Nigeria in 2019 on PDP’s platform.
Nwodo told newsmen that PDP’s ideology forbade Fayose and other members from the South from contesting in the presidential race in 2019.
He said that the ideology would be followed to the letter in spite Fayose’s declaration.
“Fayose cannot run and I will tell you my reason.
“When we formed PDP, the first battle we fought and won as a party was to zone the Presidency to the South.
“Those of us from the South made a case because in the first Republic, Prime Minister was from the North; in the Second Republic, the President was from the North, and in the Third Republic, a Southerner won and the election was annulled.
“There was no way we could go back to the South and say let’s elect a northerner again without giving the South a slot.
“A decision was taken that the Presidency should come from the South and the Chairman of the party to come from the North.
“That was how Solomon Lar became the Chairman of PDP and Secretary was zoned to the south; that was how I became the first secretary of the party,’’ he said.
Nwodo, a former National Chairman of PDP said that the party would take a decision to ensure that its Constitution and ordinances were respected.
He explained that those who tried it in the past failed to achieve their aim.
“For example, late Abubakar Rimi, former Governor of Kano State paid for a form and wanted to run.
“Then, I was the National Secretary, I returned his cheque and informed him that the party had taken a decision that the presidential candidate could only come from Southern Nigeria.
“When we went to the Convention in Jos, he went to the venue and started to campaign without having a form because we didn’t give him.
“We had to get some party leaders around to go and counsel him; we didn’t want security agencies to manhandle or embarrass him and good counsel prevailed and he stepped down.
“That was what PDP did and now we did not only zone the Presidency to the North, we have re-emphasised at every opportunity we had that the zoning will take place.
“So, the party will not collect expression of interest money from anybody else who is not from the North and will not issue him a nomination form to contest; no, we will not do that,’’ he added.
But, Fayose had in a letter to PDP leaders insisted that his ambition to be President was without prejudice to the party’s position, adding that it was in the interest of the party and Nigeria.