"No 2027 Presidential Ticket For North in PDP": Wike Declares, Mentions Which Region Should Get It
by Ezra Ukanwa, https://www.facebook.com/legitngnews · Legit.ng News · Join- Nyesom Wike insisted that the PDP must zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the south, warning against repeating the mistakes of 2023
- Wike criticised the party’s reluctance to make a clear decision, arguing that failing to zone the ticket to the south would backfire and cause division
- The decision to zone the ticket to the south could prevent Atiku Abubakar from contesting in 2027, as the former VP has expressed his intention to continue his presidential aspirations
FCT, Abuja - Nyesom Wike, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has spoken out against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) zoning its 2027 presidential ticket to the north.
In a media chat on Monday, May 12, Wike stated that the PDP cannot afford to make the same mistake it made in 2023.
Wike called for a clear decision to be made by the party, urging it to openly declare that the presidential candidate for 2027 should come from the south.
He emphasised that such a move would avoid internal conflict and the backlash that the party faced in the previous election, The Cable reported.
Wike criticises PDP’s strategy for 2023 election
Wike criticised the party’s reluctance to openly zone the ticket to the south, warning that the party’s attempts at ‘smartness’ would backfire.
“You can’t send the presidency to the north. I told them. Selfishness can kill a system,” he said, urging the PDP to learn from past mistakes.
He argued that if the PDP were to fail to zone the ticket to the south, it would set a dangerous precedent, pointing out that the All Progressives Congress (APC) might send its own presidential ticket to the north in 2031.
Wike added that it would be illogical for the PDP to then follow suit and zone the presidency to the north as well.
Impact of zoning decision on Atiku Abubakar
Wike’s comments have significant implications for former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who has made clear his intention to continue contesting for the presidency.
If the PDP opts to zone the ticket to the south, Abubakar, who is from the north, would be ineligible to run for the presidency under the party’s platform.
Abubakar, who was the PDP’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, has previously stated that he would keep contesting for the Nigerian presidency as long as his health allows, Vanguard reported.
The PDP’s ongoing zoning crisis
The issue of zoning has been a point of contention within the PDP for several years. In the lead-up to the 2023 election, the party faced internal wrangling over the decision of whether to zone the presidential ticket to the south or the north.
While some party stakeholders, including five governors led by Wike, pushed for the southern zoning of the ticket, the PDP ultimately ditched zoning altogether, opening up the contest for all candidates.
This decision deeply divided the party, leading to widespread dissatisfaction and Wike’s refusal to back Abubakar during the 2023 election.
Wike’s recent statements highlight the ongoing crisis within the PDP regarding zoning, and his call for the party to make a definitive decision on the 2027 ticket is likely to continue sparking debate among party members. As the 2027 election approaches, the issue of zoning remains a crucial factor in shaping the party’s direction.
What to know about zoning in Nigerian politics
Zoning is a political practice in Nigeria under which political parties agree to split their presidential and vice-presidential candidates between the north and south of the country, and also to alternate the home area of the president between the north and south of the country.
According to the Oxford Dictionary of African Politics, the principle of zoning is designed to ensure that neither the north nor the south of the country is ever permanently excluded from power and that no one party is seen to only represent one part of the country.
Legit.ng gathers that the notion of zoning was first introduced in the Second Republic, following the Biafran Civil War of 1967–70. In a bid to ease interethnic tensions following the conflict, the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) began to operate a zoning system to select party officials. Later, during a National Constitutional Conference that was convened following the annulment of the 1993 elections and the takeover of power by General Sanni Abacha, a number of prominent leaders advocated rotating the presidency between the country’s six geopolitical zones (north-central, north-east, north-west, south-east, south-south, and south-west).
Although the principle received wide support, the proposal was rejected in favour of a simpler process of rotating the executive between the north and south. This division was selected to reflect the country’s overarching religious cleavage between the mostly Christian south and the mostly Muslim north, although it is important to note that neither region is homogeneous. North–south tensions had been stoked from the colonial period onwards as a result of the divide-and-rule strategies of the British colonial government and allegations of British favouritism towards the north.
3 Katsina PDP reps defect to APC
Previously, Legit.ng reported that three members of the House of Representatives from Katsina State, elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have officially announced their defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The announcement was made during a plenary session in the National Assembly in Abuja, and it was read out by the Speaker of the House, Rep Tajudeen Abbas, who presided over the session.
Legit.ng's head of politics and current affairs desk, Nurudeen Lawal, contributed information on zoning in Nigerian politics to this report.