Failure to respect zoning responsible for PDP failure at polls –Keyamo

In the aftermath of the 2023 presidential election which saw the emegence of Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner, Festus Keyamo has blamed the defeat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the election on the outrageous ambition of its candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

Atiku Abubakar, according to the results announced by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), scored a total of 6,984,520 votes to come second while Peter Obi of Labour Party polled 6,101,533 votes to come third.

The results had generated a lot of controversies among the opposition parties which insisted the poll was fundamentally marred by irregularities.

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The PDP and LP leaderships had slammed the electoral umpire over its failure to conduct the polls in line with the electoral guidelines.

They also vowed to toe the legal path in order to challenge the outcome of the polls.

Tweeting on Thursday, Keyamo, the former spokesman of APC Presidential Campaign Council, and minister of state, Labour and employment, said the PDP’s loss in the election was connected to the party’s refusal to adhere to its zoning principle.

 “It is now safe to say that the failure of PDP to respect the country’s zoning formula plus ATIKU’S inordinate ambition, destroyed PDP”, Keyamo wrote.

It would be recalled that the opposition PDP had gone into the presidential election seemingly divided as a result of the crisis bordering on rotation of presidential ticket.

The G5— Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu)— had boycotted all the campaign activities of the party to protest the continued retention of Iyorchia Ayu, the national chairman.

The opposition party was defeated in all the five states superintend by the aggrieved governors.