Nigerian nationalist, Chief Edwin Clark, has opined that zoning would be a wrong decision to take by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Delta State.
Speaking ahead of the 2023 governorship election in the state on Tuesday in Asaba, the state capital, the elder statesman said any decision to zone must be discussed first before any ethnic group claims it is their turn to govern, Tracknews reports.
Clerk asked: “Why are they putting the cart before the horse?”
Using cultural dance troupes as an example to address the battle for supremacy in the state, Clerk said: “Should cultural dance troupes be invited, are you going to invite only Itsekiri dancers from Delta South, leave Ijaw and Isoko and you take Urhobo, take Anioma, will it work in the state?”
Tracknews reports that Clark reiterated that every situation requires a particular solution, and that since there is five ethnic nationalities in the state and everything has been done not based on senatorial zones, there is a need for a round table to conclude on which zone take on the power.
He said: “If they know every zone has violated senatorial zoning in the state, let us sit down and say now that all the three senatorial zones have got it, which of the zones should now have it. That is how it should be done.
“After Delta Central senatorial district, it will come to this or after Delta South senatorial district, it will come to this and after Delta North senatorial district, it will come to that. Or you can say, okay, like osusu (traditional money collection system), now that we have finished this round, let the North start. It does not mean that if Governor Ifeanyi Okowa goes, it cannot start from the North again. If it is by osusu way that is way it should happen?”
Clerk questioned further saying: “Was there any meeting when it was decided that Urhobos should start the rotation on senatorial basis or Urhobos are using their majority in the PDP caucus and knowledge to want to impose their wish on other Deltans?”
“If it is so, what are we in the South-South part of the country generally fighting the North for? We are saying that they cannot use their population and education to oppress the minority.
“What the Ijaws are saying is that we are in minority, our area is peculiar to other areas. The Urhobos have only the Urhobos in Delta Central, the Aniomas have only the Igbo-speaking people in Delta North, but in Delta South, you have the Isokos, the Ijaws and the Itsekiris and for anybody to say that you cannot zone, according to ethnicity, can you do anything in Delta state without saying that you are doing it on ethnicity.”
