Opposition parties, most especially the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress of Progressives For Change (CPC) led by General Muhammadu Buhari is set to pilfer from the ruling party by encouraging its break-up in the aftermath of crisis over choice of its next presidential candidate.

This came to the fore as the PDP itself is gambling  over its choice of presidential candidate for the 2011 elections.

The gamble by the PDP,  Sunday Tribune  revealed, centres on balancing its interest between President Jonathan and the North which has been the bulwark of its support and staying power, a reason it resolved not to favour either Jonathan or the North on the issue of zoning of political offices, which some weeks ago, threatened to tear it apart.

The National Executive Committee (NEC) of PDP about two weeks ago resolved to retain the existing zoning arrangement in the party, in a manner that put both Jonathan and the North in strong contention for the nation's presidential power in 2011, thus failing to grant either president Jonathan or the North their blanket desires that zoning should be done in their favour.

Sunday Tribune has learnt, however, that the PDP is actually waiting for the outcome of next year’s presidential election to really evolve a new structure of zoning of political offices across board, even as the present zoning arrangement favours the present political office holders within the party.

The PDP's gamble on the 2011 elections, according to party officials, is suggesting that in the event that Jonathan wins the presidential primaries and the Presidential election, the existing zoning arrangement would have to change, such that political offices would have to be entirely re-zoned.

It, therefore, presupposes that President Jonathan holds the fate of the current Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Secretary to the Government of Nigeria, Attorney General of the Federation and other major political offices usually zoned, as his possible election in 2011 would necessitate an alteration of the zoning arrangement by PDP.

Sunday Tribune also that in the event a Northerner wins the 2011 presidential election, the PDP would no longer bother about re-zoning its political offices having already yielded to the idea of retaining the existing zoning arrangement during its last NEC meeting.

Before now, almost all major political office holders had forged a parley with late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua on the necessity for retaining the zoning arrangement in the PDP as part of a ploy to make him seek re-election in 2011, whereas his untimely death changed the permutations in that regard.

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