Soalabo West, a governorship aspirant under the aegis of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), has threatened to leave the party if it jettisons the principle of zoning and direct primary when it selects its governorship candidate for the 2019 governorship election.

West, a lawyer from Buguma in Asari-Toru Local Government Area, declared that he will seek for an alternative political platform to actualise his gubernatorial ambition if the PDP does not adhere to its time-honoured tradition of rotational zoning.

Speaking on a Radio programme, on 91.7 Wave FM, monitored in Port Harcourt, on Wednesday, the aspirant noted that “the PDP has been winning elections across the country, because it protects the interest of minority groups together with the fact that it has entrenched the zoning of political offices.”

He insisted: “For the PDP to make credible impact in the 2019 general elections, the party must play by the rules and continue to apply the zoning formula, anchored on equity and fairness.”

West challenged the leadership of the PDP to make a definite statement on internal democracy, evidenced by direct primaries and zoning of the governorship office in Rivers State to the people of the riverine areas in the 2019 and/or 2023 elections.

He stressed: “If the demand to enforce the zoning formula and direct primary is not genuinely addressed, I will leave with my teeming supporters to any other party that would best serve the interests of the riverine peoples' of Rivers State.”