In order to allow Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and other Southerners to run against President Bola Tinubu in the upcoming election, the Peoples Democratic Party decided to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South at its 102nd National Executive Committee meeting.
Additionally, the party’s NEC confirmed Umar Damagum as the substantive National Chairman and maintained the current National Working Committee zoning formula for the November elective convention in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The former governor of Anambra needs more time to think before deciding on his next political move, according to supporters of Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party’s presidential candidate, including Tanko Yunusa, national coordinator of the Obidient Movement.
But reacting to the zoning arrangement, the All Progressives Congress Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, said the PDP is destined for defeat in 2027, no matter who it fields as a presidential candidate or the region he represents
The PDP’s political fortunes have always been influenced by zoning.
Members from the north resisted former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, arguing that the presidential ticket should go back to their area.
Their uprising helped the All Progressives Congress beat the PDP.
The same thing happened in 2023 when five governors opposed the candidacy of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. The governor at the time, Nyesom Wike, is now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
Despite having opened the ticket, the zoning committee, led by Samuel Ortom, the governor of Benue State at the time, contended that the South should be given consideration following President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight years in office.
The North Central leaders sought to fill the post when Senator Iyorchia Ayu was removed as National Chairman in 2023 due to a court decision, but their plea was turned down.
Important individuals such as former Senate President David Mark, Senator Dino Melaye, and former Benue Governor Gabriel Suswam defected to the African Democratic Congress, the opposition alliance, as a result of this.
The PDP has experienced numerous crises since 2015 due to disagreements about the zoning of the presidential ticket or NWC positions.
