By TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI

Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, a former governor of Anambra State on Friday said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is already digging its grave ahead of the 2023 general elections if it goes ahead to throw its presidential ticket open without zoning it to the South.

Speaking in a chat with Saturday Independent, Ezeife said the South-East and South- South may be forced to dump the PDP if the presidential ticket goes to the North.

There are indications that the PDP will adopt the report of its committee set up to review why the party lost in the 2019 presidential election and recommend solutions on how the party would return to power in 2023.

The 14-member committee, headed by Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State had recommended that the presidential ticket of the party should be thrown open to all regions instead of resorting to zoning arrangement, a position which greatly angered Southern stakeholders in the party.

With the development, many believe it is a strategy by the party leadership under Prince Uche Secondus to zone the ticket to the North.

According to Ezeife, it remains to be seen how the PDP will survive in 2023 if the South-East and South- South which are its strong base withdrew their support.

“There is no problem if the PDP decides to throw the presidential ticket open without zoning it to the South. They are already digging their own grave.

“The strength of the PDP is in the South East and South-South. But if they say they are not zoning presidency to the South, it means it is time for us to forget PDP and we will see how they will survive,” he said. (Saturday INDEPENDENT)

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