By: Prince Ntuk
For decades, political parties worldwide have been affected by an unrelenting crisis, heralded by declining membership and waning levels of trust among its members. Parties have reacted by promoting several strategies, such as zoning, to give a sense of belonging to all members of the party and for all-inclusiveness.
In Akwa Ibom State, the zoning system which was designed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) arguably is the accepted zoning system across all political parties.
The argument has also been to find out if zoning is enshrined in the constitution of the PDP or if it was just an oral understanding between its members because, if it is contained in the party’s constitution, then it will automatically bind every card-carrying member and respecting or not respecting the zoning need not arise.
Researching on the PDP, zoning was not in her constitution some years ago, but it is now clearly stated that zoning should be respected and there is a caveat in the constitution. That caveat states that “zoning should be respected to give a sense of belonging to all members of the party and for all-inclusiveness, except and only when a resolution of the National Executive Council (NEC) decides otherwise.”
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Quoting from Section 7 (2) (c) of the PDP Constitution in pertinent part…” in pursuant of the principles of equity, justice and fairness the party shall adhere to the policy of rotation and zoning of the party and public elective offices and it shall be enforced by the executive committee at all levels” it stated in the preamble that: “to create socio-political conditions conducive to national peace and unity by ensuring fair and equitable distribution of resources and opportunities, to conform with the principles of power shift and power-sharing by rotating key political offices among the diverse peoples of our country and evolving powers equitably between the federal, state and local governments in the spirit of federalism”.
The letters and the spirit of this Constitution clearly stated that the party shall adhere to the principles of rotation and zoning in pursuit of “the principles of equity, justice, and fairness”. Whatever rule of interpretation we may seek to adopt in the circumstances, whether golden, plain, or mischief, we will only arrive at one meaning for that subsection – equal opportunity for all the recognized zones in any election.
This clearly explains why the PDP Chapter Chairman of Ikono local government area, Barr. Ekemini Uba and the State Organizing Secretary of the PDP, Barr Moses Akpan, both being legal luminaries were confident in laying emphasis on the zoning arrangement of the Ikono/Ini Federal House position during the PDP Sensitization tour to Ikono/Ini Federal Constituency on Tuesday 29th March 2022.
In conclusion, the letters and the spirit of the PDP constitution having accommodated zoning binds all members and must be religiously adhered to by all card-carrying members of the PDP.
