 The National Executive Council of the People's Democratic Party, PDP, has opted to throw the contest for its presidential ticket, open rather than zone eight to a particular region of the country. The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Oluwaba, announced the decision while befriending reporters at the party's secretariat in Aboja, the Federal Capital Territory after the Neck meeting. He said that the decision was part of the resolutions reached at the end of the 1996 PDP Neck meeting, which was well attended by various party leaders.