Nigeria’s political landscape heated up yesterday as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) formally zoned its 2027 presidential ticket to the South — a move that has stirred strong reactions across the country.
The PDP’s National Executive Committee (NEC), at its 102nd meeting in Abuja, resolved that the South should produce the party’s next presidential candidate. The decision aligns with the unwritten North-South power rotation rule, especially as President Bola Tinubu, a southerner, is expected to seek re-election on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform.
While PDP leaders like Chief Bode George hailed the move as a “turning point for unity and credibility,” northern stakeholders branded it as unjust and marginalising. The Joint Action Committee of Northern Youth Associations (JACON) called it a betrayal, insisting the North has been short-changed in PDP’s history, holding power for only two and a half years compared to the South’s 13 and a half.
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North-Central groups also rejected the zoning, arguing that the region — which has never produced a president or vice president — deserves its turn. Professor K’tso Nghargbu of the North Central Renaissance Movement described the decision as “a deliberate sidelining” and warned that no party ignoring the zone should expect its votes.
The Gbenga Hashim Solidarity Movement (GHSM) went further, calling the PDP’s zoning “unconstitutional and strategically dangerous,” citing Section 42(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which bars discrimination based on region or ethnicity.
Meanwhile, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) criticised both PDP and APC for “fixating on 2027 zoning” while ignoring Nigeria’s economic hardships. ADC spokesman Bolaji Abdullahi suggested the PDP’s early move was a strategy to lure figures like former President Goodluck Jonathan, ex-Anambra Governor Peter Obi, and Rotimi Amaechi back into its fold.
For now, northern youth groups are mobilising, PDP’s southern bloc is celebrating, and speculation swirls over whether Obi will return to PDP or remain with Labour Party. One thing is clear: the zoning decision has set the stage for a heated 2027 contest.
