The Coalition of PDP Intellectuals, a global network of intellectuals and persons of integrity, has raised concerns about the state of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) with a call on the party to zone its presidential ticket for the 2027 General Election to Southern Nigeria.
The group said the call became necessary in order to restore the party’s political strength.
National Coordinator of the Coalition, Comrade Grema Muhammad, made the call during a media briefing in Abuja, urging party members to unite behind the crucial cause.
He said the core of the coalition’s message was clear, noting that for the PDP to secure victory in the 2027 elections, it must adhere to its zoning formula and restore the balance of power between Nigeria’s North and South.
“It has been nine years since the last time we had our party flag in Aso rock and it would be a wasteful effort to blame this on fate, rather, from our long and laborious attempt into investigating the ills that has bedeviled our great party, we discovered that flagrant disregard for our party presidential zoning formula is one of the chief culprit of our tales of woes today,” Mohammed noted .
He stressed that the party’s future success depends on respecting its zoning agreement, which he described as essential for ensuring equity and fairness. Reflecting on past electoral setbacks, he pointed out how the failure to adhere to the zoning formula in 2015 and 2023 elections led to internal divisions and defections, which contributed to losses to the opposition.
The Coalition pleaded that the PDP honour its commitment to zoning the presidency to the South in 2027. Muhammad argued that this was not just a political strategy, but a necessary step for achieving fairness and unity within the party. He reminded party members of how neglecting the principle of “power shift” resulted in catastrophic losses in the past, including the party’s inability to retain its strongholds and defections by key members to rival parties.
“We did not only lose the support base of our strongholds since 1999, we also had members of our party decamp to other parties and contested against us and we fleshed out a political colourless opposition party carted away victory.
“As we build up to 2027, we are staunchly warning the leaders of our party that this time, we must put party interest first and above all, we must return party to the Southern Party of the Country,” he added.
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