The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has zoned its presidential candidacy for the 2027 general election to the country’s southern region.
The party also retained the present zoning arrangement for the National Working Committee (NWC) offices with the national chair in the northern region.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) made these decisions at its 102nd meeting yesterday, held at the PDP national secretariat, Wadata Plaza in Abuja.
The party’s highest decision-making body further confirmed Amb. Iliya Umar Damagum as the substantive national chairman of the party from yesterday until the party’s national convention which will be held at Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, between 15 and 16 November, 2025.
The meeting was attended by PDP state governors including the chairman of the party’s governors’ forum, Bala Mohammed of Bauchi, Duoye Diri of Bayelsa, Dauda Lawal of Zamfara, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa, Seyi Makinde of Oyo and Ademola Adeleke of Osun while Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah took excuse that his state is hosting the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference and that he is on a federal government delegation to Brazil.
In a communique issued at the end of the meeting and presented by the party’s national publicity secretary Debo Ologunagba, the PDP NEC directed the regions to immediately micro-zone positions within their area for implementation.
According to some of the resolutions at the meeting, the PDP NEC expressed satisfaction with the dedication and efforts of the PDP Governors’ Forum, the Board of Trustees (BoT), the National Working Committee (NWC), the National Assembly Caucus, and other party bodies in preparing for the 2025 National Convention, scheduled to take place in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Following extensive deliberations, NEC approved the report submitted by the National Convention Zoning Committee. According to the communique:”(a) that all PDP national office positions currently in the country’s Northern Region remain in the Northern Region; (b) All PDP national office positions currently in the country’s Southern Region remain in the Southern Region; (c) Having retained the position of the national chairman in the Northern Region of the country, the presidential candidate of the party for the 2027 General Election is hereby zoned to the Southern Region; (d) That the Regions should immediately micro-zone positions within their Region for implementation.”
And recognising the stabilising efforts of the NWC under the leadership of Acting National Chairman Amb. Iliya Umar Damagum, the communique noted that NEC had ratified his appointment of Amb Damagum as the substantive national chairman of the party with immediate effect, until the National Convention scheduled for Ibadan, the Oyo State Capital, on 15th to 16th November, 2025.
PDP accuses APC of intimidation, state capture
According to it, PDP NEC condemned the resort by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to state capture through state-backed intimidation, manipulation, inducement, coercion and violence against Nigerians as witnessed in APC’s muzzling of the recent by-elections in parts of the country.
The PDP NEC particularly expressed dismay at the militarisation of the recent by-elections, especially in Kaduna and Taraba states, as well as Zamfara State, where ‘excessive’ number security agents were deployed in the conduct of the run-off election in only five polling units in Kaura Namoda South State Constituency.
We Must Embrace Sacrifice, Unity To Succeed In 2027 – PDP BoT
Meanwhile, the Board of Trustees of the PDP has called for unity among party members and for them to come to terms with making the necessary sacrifices to succeed in the 2027 general election.
The chairman of the BoT, Senator Adolphus Wabara, said this in his opening remark at yesterday’s meeting of the advisory body held at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
According to Wabara, who was represented by the BoT secretary, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, the BoT meeting was a call for reflection, unity and renewed determination for a party with a proud history as the custodian of democracy and good governance in Nigeria.
He said the hopes of millions of Nigerians are tied to the party’s collective capacity to build to reconcile and to position this party ahead of 2027.
PDP’s Zoning Of Presidential Ticket To South A Big Error – Olawepo-Hashim
A PDP chieftain and presidential aspirant, Dr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim has declared the party’s zoning of the presidential ticket to the south as a significant error.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Olawepo-Hashim, who is from the North Central state of Kwara, said this had never happened in the party before.
PDP has not approached Obi to run in 2027
When contacted on whether Peter Obi would accept returning to the Peoples Democratic Party to fly the party’s presidential ticket in 2027 if the party hierarchy approached him, his media aide, Mr. Valentine Obienyem, a lawyer, told LEADERSHIP, “The answer is simple: He (Peter Obi) has not been approached. You cannot put the cart before the horse. If he is approached, he will make a decision one way or the other.”
North Central Group Demands 2027 Presidential Ticket
The North Central Renaissance Movement (NCRM) has demanded that Nigeria’s major political parties zone their presidential tickets to the North Central geopolitical zone ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In a communiqué issued at the weekend and signed by its chairperson, Prof. K’tso Nghargbu, the movement emphasised that the North Central has made immense contributions to Nigeria’s political stability, economic development, and national unity, but has never produced a civilian president or vice president since independence.
We Support Zoning Of Presidency To South – MBF
However, the national spokesman of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Luka Binniyat, said the forum’s position on the zoning of the presidency from 2023 to 2027 has not changed.
According to him, the Middle Belt Forum supports the zoning of the presidency to the South, adding that it had no problem with that because it aligns with its position.
Binniyat also argued that any strong contending candidate who picks a Middle Belt politician as his running mate stands a greater chance of getting the support of the people of the zone in 2027 because they believe that by 2031, it will be the turn of the Middle Belt to take a shot at the presidency too.
“We have supported both sides enough; 2031 should be our turn,” he declared.
We’ve Been Vindicated – Wike’s G-5
Meanwhile, the recent zoning of the PDP presidential ticket for the 2027 elections to the South has been applauded as a validation of the stance taken by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Nyesom Wike, and the influential G-5 governors during the turbulent events of 2022.
The minister’s senior special assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, issued a press statement on Monday in reaction to the PDP NEC resolution, which also retained the party’s national chairmanship in the North.
Olayinka said, “Now that the party has realised its mistake of not listening to Wike and the G-5 in 2022, and has chosen to follow their recommendations three years later, have they not been vindicated now?” he asked.
He recalled the G-5’s insistence that the party’s presidential candidate and national chairman should not hail from the same region, a call that was rebuffed, leading to the party’s fall in the 2023 election
“Is it not too late to correct their mistakes now, especially since the only way to justify this zoning is for the South to complete its eight years before the presidency returns to the North in 2031?” he wondered.
ACF: PDP, Other Parties’ Zoning Not Covered By Constitution
The apex Northern socio-cultural organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has said the zoning of political offices is purely an affair of political parties, stressing that the Nigerian Constitution does not cover it.
“The ACF does not position itself on purely partisan political affairs.
“At best, the ACF sees the recent development of zoning as a purely private affair, as the Constitution does not cover such matters. This means it is up to specific parties to decide on their winning strategy.
When contacted about the opposition PDP’s zoning of the presidential candidate to the South ahead of the 2027 general elections, ACF National Publicity Secretary Prof. T. A. Muhammad-Baba replied in a short statement that the forum did not comment on purely partisan political affairs.
ACF added that it was up to political parties to decide on their winning strategies.
“The same goes for individuals regarding their decisions to offer themselves for contesting the presidency or any other offices. The ACF can, therefore, only wait to see campaign programs, manifested, etc.,” the forum said.
Kano PDP, Shekarau Back Southern Candidate
On the recent decision by the PDP, LEADERSHIP, the PDP chairman in Kano state, Aliyu Kibiya, said that the party welcomes the development and the decision to zone the presidency to the south.
He said this is an effort to reinvent the PDP, given the country’s current realities.
“It has been an excellent day for the members of the PDP, especially at the NEC level. I am a member of the NEC, and it is a decision that we had to go through so many rigorous meetings from all the sectors of the leadership of the party.
“Considering the current developments in the country, PDP is reinventing itself, and, of course, we are going by the realities. The decision to zone the party to the south is the decision of the NEC,” he stated.
LEADERSHIP also spoke with Sule Ya’u Sule, the spokesman of the former Kano State governor Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, who said his boss supported the decision.
Sule explained that Shekarau was part of the meeting that decided to zone the party’s presidential candidacy to the South, adding that this is his candid opinion as a party member who was involved in the party’s decision-making.
