Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has declared that the South-west geopolitical zone  producing the next national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is not negotiable, pointing out that anything contrary would not be acceptable to the zone.

He called on notable leaders in the South-west region to be prepared to contest the coveted position next year, maintaining that all stakeholders must forge a common front to get it.

The governor, who also maintained that installing a new chairman from the North-east for the party at this time was a waste of time, said the acting Chairman, Chief Uche Secondus, should be allowed to serve out the tenure of his predecessor, Alhaji Adamu Mua’zu.

A statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications, Lere Olayinka, quoted Fayose as saying yesterday that: “Since the PDP will pick its presidential candidate from the North in 2019, the South-west zone which has not produced the party’s national chairman should take the position next year.”

Meanwhile, a youth leader from the South-south zone, Afoke Akporua, has condemned the governor for asking  the caretaker committee to continue to pilot the affairs of the PDP at the national level, saying such action would instill illegality in the party.

Akporua said allowing the caretaker chairman to continue would deprive the North-east members of the right to complete their own tenure, urging the party to cede the position back to the zone. Fayose said: “Rather than going about canvassing for the completion of the North-east tenure as national chairman of the party, what the party leaders from the North should be concerned with is who will be presented as the presidential candidate in 2019.”

On why the South-west must produce the next PDP chairman, Fayose said: “Since the presidential candidate will come from the North, the chairman will naturally come from the South and it should be southwest.”

Also, Fayose has said the use of caretaker committees to administer local government is an aberration that must be discouraged through the conduct of election into the third tier of government.

Speaking on a radio/television programme: ‘Governor Explains’ in Ado-Ekiti at the weekend, the governor opined that the local government as the third tier of government must be strengthened as it is the government of the grassroots.

In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, Fayose said: “Local government structure must be enhanced, and I am not part of those who want to use caretaker committees to administer local government areas when there are no issues hindering the conduct of election.

“All issues inherited and which could stop us from conducting local government election have been resolved, and members of the Ekiti

State Independent Electoral Commission have been inaugurated. The process for the election has started,” he said.