Senate Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro, has explained why former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, secured the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential ticket in 2023 despite controversy over zoning the ticket to the South.

Naijaonpoint recalls that zoning was one of the significant issues that led to the crisis still hitting the party to date, resulting in the likes of former Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, working against the party in the last general elections.

The PDP had left their presidential ticket open for all zones and contestants, which led to the emergence of Atiku, a northerner, as the party’s presidential candidate for the election.

However, the PDP held its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Monday in Abuja and agreed to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South, meaning that other zones would not contest in the party’s primaries in 2026.

Abba Moro, a chieftain of the PDP, during an interview on Arise News on Monday evening, said the decision to allow a northern candidate was deliberate, suggesting that Atiku was the best candidate the party was left with.

He said, “The PDP decided to put its best foot forward in 2023, regardless of where the candidate came from. That is why Atiku was nominated in 2023, and it backfired.”

On why the PDP now zoned the 2027 Presidency to the South, Moro said the party leadership advocated for a shift from the North in the belief of equity