2027: It’s too late for PDP to zone presidency to South – Wike’s aide
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Lere Olayinka, spokesperson to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) decision to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South has come too late.
Speaking on Channels Television on Wednesday, Olayinka argued that had the party listened to Wike and other aggrieved members before the 2023 election, the PDP would not be in its current crisis.
“It is too late because we had the chance of doing the right thing three years ago that we did not do,” Olayinka said.
“For instance, if we had agreed with him (Wike), probably the party wouldn’t be where it is today. Head is off already, we are crying. What we should have done three years ago, we did not do.
He recalled that in 2022, Wike and his G-5 allies had demanded that the PDP zone its ticket to the South, arguing that fairness required a southern candidate since then-President Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner, was completing his tenure.
Olayinka noted that the PDP now faces a tougher political reality ahead of the 2027 elections.
“The second thing that is too late is that you’re now saying the president should come from the South, but the issue is that another party that is in power has its candidate too from the same South and that candidate would have spent four years in office and will have four years more to spend,” he said.
“Now you’re presenting your (Southern) candidate to the North, will that North agree with a candidate that will be starting afresh? A candidate that would probably want to go for second term if he wins in 2031? Or a candidate that only has four years to spend?” he added.
The PDP recently resolved to zone its presidential ticket to the South ahead of the 2027 general elections, a move critics, such as Olayinka, argue may not yield the desired results, given the party’s previous missteps.
Meanwhile, to address the concerns surrounding the North’s preference for a candidate who would spend four years in power, the PDP is believed to be courting former President Goodluck Jonathan and Peter Obi.
Having served as president, the Nigerian Constitution allows Jonathan to spend four more years to complete an eight-year term, while Obi, in his recent rhetoric, promised a single term of four years if given the opportunity to lead the country.
According to Abba Moro, the PDP senator representing Benue South, some individuals have been speaking with Obi and the former president about their possible return to the party.
He added that if Obi returns to the party, he might get the PDP’s presidential ticket.
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