‘We won’t take it’, N’Central stakeholders kick against PDP, APC’s zoning arrangement

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA: North Central political stakeholders have rejected the Peoples Democratic Party’s PDP zoning of the 2027 presidency to the South, insisting that the region will not accept continued marginalisation in the nation’s leadership arrangement.

They also rejected the zoning arrangement of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC, declaring that any party that does not field a candidate from the zone would not have the votes of the people.

Addressing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, Chairperson of the North Central Renaissance Movement, Professor K’tso Nghargbu, said the decision of the PDP amounted to a deliberate sidelining of the North Central, which has never produced a civilian president or vice president since independence.

Flanked by other members of the movement, the North Central zone has been patient for decades, consistently making peaceful appeals through what he described as “intellectual activism” rather than violence or sabotage of national assets, yet its demands for fair political inclusion continue to be ignored. “Any political party that is not willing to zone the presidency to the North—and particularly to the North Central—may not and will not have the votes of our people,” Nghargbu warned.

According to him, several zones in Nigeria sought political patronage by vandalizing critical national infrastructure, while some constituted themselves into freedom fighters, through arms struggle, adding that the North Central has never done that.

“Ours will continually remain intellectual activism”.

He argued that the North Central remains the country’s most strategic region, describing it as a “miniature Nigeria” that hosts all the major ethnic nationalities and stands as a unifying force capable of stabilizing a divided nation.

He said; “At a time when Nigeria is bleeding and national trust between northern and southern elites is dwindling, the logical and wise choice is to seek a bridge builder. The North Central is that bridge builder”.

Nghargbu noted the zone’s enormous contributions to national development, including its role as the food basket of the nation, its vast mineral resources and its tested human capital with the temperament to foster unity.

He dismissed the PDP’s claims that power would return to the North after a four-year stint in the South as unrealistic, stressing that once a president emerges, they will naturally seek a second term.

“The truth is simple: once PDP gets power, it will not stop at four years. Nigerians know this. We have seen it happen before, and it will happen again,” he said.

The stakeholders also warned against what he termed “recycled leadership,” noting that Nigerians—especially the youth—are yearning for fresh faces and new ideas in governance. “Our agitation is not about North versus South. It is about equity, justice and good governance. The North Central is the only zone yet to be tested, and we insist it is time to be given the chance,” he declared.

Nghargbu, who described the North Central as the “referee” in Nigeria’s heated political arena, cautioned that any party that sidelines the region should not expect its electoral support in 2027.

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