The decision of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, National Executive Committee, NEC, to zone the presidency to the South while retaining the party’s National Chairman in the North has been described as a clear vindication of the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, and the G-5’s position in 2022.
The minister’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, made the remark in a statement following the outcome of the PDP NEC meeting.
In the statement, Olayinka said: “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?
“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. Ayu, however, refused to resign, with Atiku and his group backing him. The aftermath was the electoral misfortune the party suffered in 2023, followed by post-election instability.
“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?
“Sadly, they know the truth. 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!
“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?”
