ABUJA — The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) decision to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South while retaining the National Chairmanship in the North has been described as a clear vindication of the position taken by Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, and the G-5 governors in 2022.
Wike’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, made this known in a statement on Tuesday following the outcome of the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.
According to Olayinka, the party’s new zoning arrangement proves that Wike and the G-5 were right when they opposed the 2023 setup that saw both the presidential candidate and national chairman emerge from the North.
“Now that the party has realised its mistake of not listening to Wike and the G-5 in 2022, and has chosen to do what they said three years after, have they not been vindicated?” Olayinka asked.
He recalled that the G-5 insisted that since former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, a northerner, was PDP’s 2023 presidential candidate, then-National Chairman Senator Iyorchia Ayu, also from the North, should step aside for a southerner. Atiku and his allies, however, backed Ayu to remain, a decision Olayinka argued cost the party dearly at the polls.
“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 the PDP not come back to eat its own vomit?” he quipped.
Olayinka added that the party’s U-turn, while commendable, might have come too late to reverse the damage done.
“Wike simply said, take the chairmanship to the South if you want to gain the presidency, but they said no, and the PDP lost. 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, before the presidency returns to the North in 2031?” he queried.
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