The decision of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South has reignited debate over the party’s 2022 crisis, with many observers describing the move as a vindication of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, and the G-5 governors.
In 2022, the PDP was engulfed in a bitter internal battle after Atiku Abubakar, from the North, emerged as the party’s presidential candidate. Wike and the G-5 governors insisted that the national chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu—also from the North—must step aside to allow a Southerner lead the party, arguing that both positions could not be occupied by one region. Atiku and his allies rejected the demand, a decision that deepened divisions in the PDP and contributed to its loss in the 2023 presidential election.
Now, three years later, the PDP’s 102nd National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja has resolved that since the national chairman remains zoned to the North, the 2027 presidential ticket should go to the South.
Reacting to the development, Wike’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, said the PDP had finally admitted its mistake.
“Now that the party has realised its mistake of not listening to Wike and the G-5 in 2022, and have chosen to do what they said, three years after, have they not been vindicated now?” Olayinka asked.
He stressed that Wike and the G-5’s position was consistent: “Recall that the FCT Minister and the G-5 had insisted that the presidential candidate of the PDP and its National Chairman must not remain in the same zone, insisting that since Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, from the North, had emerged as the presidential candidate, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, also from the North, must resign to pave the way for a National Chairman from the South.”
He said the refusal of Atiku and Ayu to heed this advice directly led to the PDP’s “electoral misfortune” in 2023.
“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?” Olayinka asked.
According to him, Wike had warned the party early enough: “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!”
He, however, noted that while the PDP has now corrected its 2022 error, the move may have come too late to save the party from long-term consequences.
“They have realised 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?” he added.
