One of the aspirants for the office of national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Raymond Dokpesi, was on Monday successfully screened to contest for the position at the party’s convention scheduled for Wednesday in Port Harcourt.
A statement by his media aide, Omor Bazuaye, said Mr. Dokpesi went through the screening processes without hitches.
Answering questions from the screening committee, Mr. Dokpesi said the decision of some southern leaders to have the position of national chairman zoned to the southwest was not with prejudice to candidates from the wider South who were still interested in the position.
He said his decision to run for the position was to restructure and rebuild a party with conscience and have respect for the wishes and aspiration of the people.
Addressing journalists at the end of his screening exercise that lasted barely 10 minutes, Mr. Dokpesi promised to re-position the PDP, and to make it a reputable democratic institution.
On the issue of zoning, Mr. Dokpesi cited the case in Rivers State where Governor Nyesom Wike contested and won the election for PDP despite the fact that his candidacy was clearly against the zoning arrangement in the state.
“When you are in opposition, what matters is to present the candidate that can win the election and not zoning,” he said.
He also said Mr. Wike was PDP’s best candidate for the election and was good enough for the party to look beyond zoning.
