Zoning dominates political debates

By Dayo Benson, Political Editor, Jimitota Onoyume & Aliyu Dangida
Intense scheming and maneuvering will dominate the political space this week ahead of 2011 political race even as plots and counter plots against zoning thicken.

Two of the major events that are expected to shape the week are the South-South Stakeholders Forum meeting in Port Harcourt today and Northern Governor’s Forum which takes place in Kaduna tomorrow.

While the agenda of the South-South Stakeholders Forum was hazy at press time, sources close to the group informed that it might not be unconnected with the zoning issue.

Today’s meeting in Port Harcourt which would be attended by 40 delegates each from Rivers, host, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Delta states was expected to take a definite position on zoning preparatory to President Goodluck Jonathan’s participation in the 2011 presidential race.

According to another source, the forum was likely to follow their Northern counterpart’s footstep by kicking against zoning and the position will be subsequently presented to the PDP leadership.

Similarly, tomorrow’s Northern governors gathering would likely tow a similar path especially as some of them saw it as an opportunity to secure their second term ticket.

Lamido carpets zoning proponents

Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State has condemned the call by some politicians asking President Goodluck Jonathan not to contest the 2011 elections, describing such calls as illegitimate, unconstitutional and a set back to the current democratic dispensation.

Lamido, who spoke with journalists in Dutse, said the on-going debate about zoning was unhealthy for the polity, adding such debate supposed to be purely for the ruling PDP which started it affair, regretting that the debate is almost becoming an issue which may erode overall concern of the country and its people.

Zoning, a Yoruba affair – Clark

Foremost Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, has said what  existed in the ruling PDP as zoning was an arrangement to pacify the Yoruba after the election won by the late Chief Moshood Abiola was annulled by the military government of former President Ibrahim Babangida

Clark who spoke at the inauguration ceremony of the new leadership of the Ijaw Youth Council in Port Harcourt, weekend, argued that the zoning arrangement ended with the 1999 election. Urging the new leadership of I jaw youths to promote national unity, Clark said what was uppermost at this time was how to make the federation governable.