A presidential aspirant and former Senate President, Senator Pius Anyim, yesterday, ruled out the possibility of stepping down for any aspirant ahead of the presidential primary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Senator Anyim, who spoke on a radio programme tagged Political roundtable, monitored on Mainland 98.3fm, also expressed worry at the worsening rate of insecurity just as he promised to revive the economy when elected the country’s next president.
He said: “Zoning is a constitutional matter in PDP, the worry I have is that some people may get away with it in the interim but on a long run, it will weaken that organization and the organization will not have power to protect its members, the fact that it’s a constitutional matter in the PDP.
“As of today, the committee report is yet to be considered by NEC, but they are holding this week, they are the only authority to make a decision on zoning. Whichever way it goes, I am in the race.
“We have zoned the party office under this current dispensation, what we did was to zone north-south, each region now went back and micro zone, micro-zoning within the region.
“If rotation is based on equity and fairness the north should allow it to go to the south while under zoning within the south should allow it to go to the south-east.
Southeast have the pre-requisite experience required, “There is no zone in this country today that you cannot find competent, capable and very ready that can make this country great.
“We have very capable, experienced, willing and ever ready that can make this country great. By the time we reduce our democracy to naira and kobo, then we are all guilty of setting our country back.
“We can work together so that nobody will say because we are too many fighting each other that is why it won’t come to us, we will work together to make sure we bring this to the south-east. Who will represent is another issue we have not talked about.
“If you look at what has happened in the north, the aspirants came together and said they need consensus, in the South East, among the aspirants, we are not talking about consensus yet, we may get to that level but it is not been discussed yet. What we’re discussing is to make sure that the president slot comes to the southeast.
Consensus is in the electoral act, no evil in it
The advantage I have over another aspirant from the southeast, is I have national exposure.”
Assessing the APC-led government in the last seven years, he said: “Today insecurity has heightened to alarming proportion, banditry, kidnapping arm robbery, among others have increased to alarming levels. The economy has collapsed and joblessness has increased, we have never been as divided as this in the country.
“Everybody in this country is crying that they should return us to where we were in 2015.
“For us in PDP, our mission in 2023 is to rescue this country from total collapse.”
On how to secure the nation, he said: “Two years ago I wrote an open letter to the president that approaching insecurity from a military angle is not enough, with the downturn in the economy, the economy has shrunk that our industries are collapsing, unemployment increasing and our naira badly depreciated. You don’t expect people to sit back and die of hunger; they will want to grab at any opportunity.
“In resolving insecurity, there must be an economic dimension, social dimension, and political dimension. When you rule a country in such a way that some sections are made to feel they are not important, they are not part of the government, generally, there will be a reaction. The military aspect is also important.
“In the next 15 years, the oil economy will no longer be sustainable, if the industries have collapsed because of lack of direct foreign investment, the naira will depreciate and unemployment will increase. I am against the level of borrowing this administration has done.”
On what he does differently if given the ticket and win, he said: “Nigerians should expect an inclusive governance system that is responsive to the people, I will provide a type of leadership that will give everybody a sense of belonging and commitment to this nation. I will unify this country. Some people think economics is the major problem; I will set a foundation to rebuild this nation on a steady part of growth, prosperity and development.
“I can assure Nigerians that I understand what the problems are and I can assure Nigerians that I have clarity of what needs to be done, I will segment them into three and tackle them politically, socially and economically. I can assure you that in the first year of my administration, the difference will become clear.”