PDP’s 2027 Zoning Decision Vindicates Wike, Says Aide

The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) decision to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South while retaining the national chairmanship in the North has validated the long-standing position of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, has said.

In a statement issued on Monday, Olayinka argued that the PDP’s failure to heed Wike and the G-5 governors’ warning in 2022—against allowing both the presidential candidate and national chairman to emerge from the same region—contributed to the party’s poor showing in the 2023 general elections.

“Now that the party has realised its mistake of ignoring Wike and the G-5 in 2022, and has chosen to do exactly what they recommended three years later, have they not been vindicated?” Olayinka asked.

He recalled that Wike and his allies had insisted that after former Vice President Atiku Abubakar from the North emerged as PDP’s presidential candidate in 2022, then-National Chairman Senator Iyorchia Ayu, also from the North, should step aside to allow the position move to the South.

“Ayu, however, refused to resign, with Atiku and his camp backing him. The result was the party’s electoral misfortune in 2023, followed by instability after the polls,” Olayinka stated.

The minister’s aide further suggested that while the PDP’s current position vindicates Wike, the timing may have come too late.

“Has the PDP not come back to eat its own vomit? Wike said clearly, ‘Take the chairmanship to the South if you want to win the presidency,’ but they rejected it. They insisted on taking both positions, and the party lost. Now in 2025, they are correcting the mistake—but is it not already too late? By 2031, the argument will be that the South should complete eight years before power returns to the North,” Olayinka said.

The PDP’s decision was announced at its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja on Monday, where leaders also confirmed Ambassador Umar Damagum as substantive National Chairman. Damagum had been serving in acting capacity since March 2023, following the suspension of Senator Iyorchia Ayu—a decision upheld by the courts. Before then, he was PDP Deputy National Chairman (North).