The camp of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has dismissed the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) decision to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South as coming too late to make any meaningful impact.
Wike’s spokesperson, Lere Olayinka, speaking on Channels Television on Wednesday, said the PDP squandered its opportunity when it ignored calls in 2022 to zone the presidency southward ahead of the 2023 elections.
“It is too late because we had the chance of doing the right thing three years ago that we did not do,” Olayinka said, recalling that Wike and his G-5 allies had demanded that the ticket be zoned to the South in the spirit of fairness, as then-President Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner, was completing his second term.
According to him, the party’s failure to act at the time left it fractured and contributed to its poor performance in the 2023 polls. He argued that the belated zoning decision now places the PDP in a more difficult position ahead of 2027.
Olayinka further pointed out that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) already has a sitting southern president, Bola Tinubu, who will be seeking re-election in 2027.
“You are now saying the president should come from the South, but the party in power already has its candidate from the South who will be four years into his tenure. Presenting another southern candidate to the North will be difficult. Will the North accept a candidate starting afresh who may want two terms, or prefer one with only four years left?” he asked.
The PDP recently announced that its 2027 presidential ticket would be zoned to the South.