2027: Mixed reactions trail PDP’s zoning of presidency to south

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Monday zoned the party’s presidential ticket to the southern part of the country in a bid to salvage the once largest political party in Africa.

The PDP also announced that it has retained its chairmanship position to the north, while affirming Umar Damagum as the National Chairman, pending the party’s National Convention later this year.

the decision was reached at the end of the PDP’s National Executive Council, NEC, meeting held on Monday in Abuja.

Before the crucial NEC meeting, feuding camps in the PDP were locked in a deep battle for the soul of the party, with the issue of zoning of the party’s presidential ticket being a contentious issue plaguing the party.

A prolonged leadership crisis ensued in the PDP immediately when former Vice President Atiku Abubakar emerged as the party’s presidential candidate in the last 2023 presidential election after the party threw its ticket open.

A former governor of Rivers State, and currently Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, some governors, and a host of other members, displeased by the decision, revolted against the party and worked against its presidential candidate.

Addressing journalists after the NEC meeting, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, announced that the decision followed the presentation of a report by the Zoning Committee chaired by Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri.

However, the resolution of the PDP has since attracted diverse reactions from many Nigerians.

While some believe the latest development opens a new chapter for the party, others described it as a “medicine after death.”

It’s too late – Wike’s camp

In a statement shortly after the decision of the PDP on zoning its presidential ticket to the South in 2027, Lere Olayinka,

Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, said the decision came too late.

Olayinka said his principal and members of the G-5 have now been vindicated by the position they adopted in 2022, arguing that the PDP has gone back to its vomit.

He recalled that Wike and the G-5 had insisted that both the presidential candidate and the National Chairman could not come from the same region.

“Sadly, they know the truth. Wike simply said, take the chairmanship to the South if you want to gain the presidency, but they said no, they must take the two, and the PDP lost!

“They have realized the mistake they made in 2022 and are correcting it in 2025.

“But is it not too late already, bearing in mind that the only way the zoning can be justified is for the South to conclude its eight years, while the presidency returns to the North in 2031?” Olayinka queried.

Olayinka further noted that the PDP leadership had now accepted the same principle the Minister fought for.

“But today, the NEC resolved that since the National Chairman of the party is zoned to the North, the PDP 2027 Presidential ticket be zoned to the South. Has PDP not come back to eat its own vomit?” He asked.

NEC decision amounts to endorsing Tinubu’s reelection – Ex- presidential candidate

On his part, a ‎former presidential candidate and chieftain of the PDP, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, faulted the party’s decision to zone the presidency.

Olawepo-Hashim warned that the decision amounts to an endorsement of President Bola Tinubu’s reelection bid.

The PDP chieftain ‎spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, shortly after the PDP National Executive Committee meeting.

Olawepo-Hashim described the move as “unprecedented” in the history of the party, arguing that the PDP had never barred any region from contesting the presidency in the past conventions.

He said: “What has happened today is unprecedented. PDP has never zoned its presidential ticket before. It means if you are a northerner, you find another party.

“Let me tell you, this is my own position. The zoning of the presidency to the south is a default campaign for the return of President Asiwaju.

“This is because those who are mounting this campaign of zoning to the south are the same people who are saying, we are in PDP, but we work for President Asiwaju.

“Look at all of them, almost all of them, the same people say, oh, we are in PDP, but we are committed to President Asiwaju’s reelection, and are saying zone it.

“So it’s a default campaign, for the PDP not to have a viable candidate by those people.”

Things falling in right place – Onyia

However, contrary to the view held by Wike’s camp and others, a member of the PDP Board of Trustees, Ejiofor Onyia, said everything has started to fall in the right place for the party.

Onyia also accused the FCT minister of working for an opposition party – the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

The PDP chieftain spoke on Monday while fielding questions on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme.

He said: “Everything is falling in place after the convention, then we have a new executive that will start moving the party in the direction we want it to go.

“You see, let me make it clear, we have a party, and we have an executive of the party. We have the constitution that guides the activities of the party.

“Now, as of today, the FCT minister is working for an opposition party as of today, right? Okay, he’s not holding any executive position in the party, okay? And he does not have the power to decide what the party does.

“So he can take any decision, react anywhere he likes, as an individual. But that does not stop the party from doing what the Constitution has provided for the party to do.

“I’m a founding father of this party, not a founding member. I was one of those that started this party from the beginning, and he wasn’t. And therefore they all joined us.

“They are members, but everybody has an equal right. Everybody in the party has his own right. Nobody exercises a higher right than the other.

“The only people with higher rights are those given the authority by the convention to act on behalf of the party. That is where it’s supposed to be.

“We’re in a democracy where the majority has its way and the minority has its say. That’s the way it works.

“So a minority cannot begin to determine what the majority should do. Otherwise, we go into anarchy, and that’s not what we need.”

Zoning a ‘cosmetic’ treatment – Analyst

Meanwhile, a Public Affairs Analyst and Communication Scholar at Peaceland University, Enugu, Nduka Odo, in an interview with DAILY POST described the decision of the PDP to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South as a “cosmetic treatment” that does not address the fundamental challenges facing the party.

Odo said the decision was consistent with the party’s old formula of rotation adopted since 1999 but questioned its relevance in the current political climate.

According to him, had the principle of rotation been applied during the 2023 elections, the PDP might have been in a stronger position today.

He, however, argued that the party has lost significant ground since then, adding that the formation of the ADC was the final straw.

He said: “It’s interesting to observe the outcome of the convention held by the NEC of the PDP.

“The decision they took aligns with the predictions I made elsewhere. There’s no upsetting pronouncement or action coming from the NEC meeting.

“I give the team kudos for reverting to the old formula observed by the PDP since 1999. It’s a credit to them for thinking in that line towards 2027.

“The PDP was built on rotation. Even as a gentleman’s agreement, rotation helped things move smoothly. If that principle had been observed in the 2023 general elections, the party would probably have been in a better place today.

“Unfortunately, a lot has happened since 2023, and one can hardly state boldly whether this decision was taken to strengthen the party or to keep it as a stooge for the ruling party.

“If the stakeholders of the party are interested in rebuilding it, it’ll take much more than mouthing that they have zoned the 2027 presidential ticket to the South.

“We need to ask: can the PDP win significant votes today? How many state governors are in the PDP? One in the South East, one in the South South.

“The party no longer holds sway. The formation of the ADC was the final straw.

“I see this zoning as a cosmetic treatment for the core cancer bedevilling the bone marrow of the party. The real issue concerns who is in charge of the party and what the conspicuous and hidden missions of the party’s current structure are.

“Who in the South can lead the party against the APC, ADC, and LP? Governor Mbah, Governor Diri, Osun’s Adeleke, or Oyo’s Governor Makinde? These individuals are doing well on their own and may not need central PDP support to win reelection.

“Since they didn’t change the leadership of the party, it’s best to assume that Nyesom Wike is still in control. And who does Wike currently work for? Well, the answer tells you everything you need to know.

“Many fingers are pointing at Seyi Makinde as the PDP flag bearer in 2027. However, I see something different in their plan.

“If the relationship between Wike and President Tinubu endures until the election, then the PDP will be picking a candidate from the South East or South South. The candidate will not be chosen to win the election, but clearly, the move will be targeted at the chances of Mr. Peter Obi.

“When this happens, the PDP governors will focus on their reelection while pitching tents with formidable presidential candidates of other parties.

“As I stated in an interview with DAILY POST before, unfortunately, 2027 may be the last time the PDP will feature in national politics.

“I predicted the bleak future of the PDP at the national level long before the ADC was formed.”