The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has restated its stance on the need for the next president to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2023 elections, to be from the Southern part of the nation.

PANDEF restated this in reaction to Governor Samuel Ortom’s PDP Zoning Committee which allegedly threw its Presidential ticket open for the forthcoming election.

In a statement signed by the Forum’s National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Ken Robinson, the forum stated that the decision to throw the party ticket open is an awful one that will breed consequences.

PANDEF insisted that for fairness and equity to reign, the next president of Nigeria should come from the South, adding that anything otherwise will be detrimental to the nation’s peace and cohesion.

“It is an awful decision and there will be consequences. But we are not utterly surprised at the development. The outcome was predictable, there were evident pointers that this would be the conclusion.

“Governor Ortom’s Committee had a script and they have played it out, with due deference to some patriots that were in the committee.

“The level of desperation and political debauchery being demonstrated by some political stakeholders is deplorable and quite disappointing. Regrettably, we are in a society where it seems anything goes,” he stated.