Executive director of the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Center in Africa (PAACA), Ezenwa Nwagwu, has said zoning of any position to a particular region or part of the country, ahead of the 2027 general election is unconstitutional.
LEADERSHIP reports that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) zoned its presidential candidate for the 2027 general election to the southern region of the country.
In an interview with our correspondent in Abuja, Nwagwu, an ally of Dr Gbenga Olwepo-Hashim, a presidential aspirant on the platform of PDP who vowed to go ahead with his aspiration, said zoning was equally against inclusion.
“The issue of zoning is an introduction that is not constitutional. It is an intrusion in our political space that is not constitutional. And so anything that is not constitutional cannot hold to the extent that it cannot criminalise people’s aspiration.
“If he(Hashim) wants to run an election, he is qualified as a Nigerian, he is 18 years of age, and he is also qualified to run for presidency if he so determines to run. And that is clear.
“So inclusion is anything that is opposed to the constitutionally guaranteed rights of Nigerian citizens. If zoning is such a thing, then it should be contested,” the CSO leader said.
