2027: Zoning presidential ticket to the South, too late, Wike’s aide tells PDP

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA: Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, to the Federal Capital Territory FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has described as too late, Monday’s decision of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP National Executive Committee NEC to zone the presidency to the South while retaining the office of the National Chairman in the North.

This was as he said the minister and members of the G-5 have now been vindicated by the position they adopted in 2022.

Noting that the PDP has now gone back to its vomit, Olayinka added that the current move by the party is an admission of past mistakes.

“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!”

According to him, the corrective step is coming rather late in the day.

“They have realized 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?” Olayinka concluded.

Reacting to the NEC’s resolution, Olayinka in a statement said the development confirmed the position Wike and his allies took in 2022.

“Now that the party has realized 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?” Olayinka queried.

He recalled that Wike and the G-5 had insisted that both the presidential candidate and the National Chairman could not come from the same region. 

“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, insisted on not resigning, with Atiku and his group backing him. Aftermath of this was the electoral misfortune the party suffered in 2023, followed by instability after the elections”, Olayinka said 

He noted that the PDP leadership has now accepted the same principle Wike championed, as reflected in the NEC’s latest zoning arrangement.

“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?” he asked.

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