The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has officially zoned its 2027 presidential ticket to the South, while retaining the national chairmanship in the North, in a decision that reaffirms its power-sharing formula and sets the stage for the party’s march toward the next general elections.
The decision formed part of the far-reaching resolutions reached at the 102nd meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) held on Monday at the PDP National Secretariat, Abuja.
Announcing the resolution in a communiqué, the National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said NEC resolved that all national offices already zoned to either the North or South would remain unchanged.
By implication, the office of the National Chairman remains in the North, while the 2027 presidential ticket has been ceded to the South.
NEC further directed both zones to commence immediate micro-zoning of positions within their regions in preparation for the party’s elective national convention scheduled to be held November 15–16, 2025, in Ibadan, Oyo State.
•Damagum confirmed substantive chairman
Another major highlight of the meeting was the ratification of Ambassador Iliya Umar Damagum as the substantive National Chairman of the PDP.
His confirmation, which took effect on August 25, 2025, ends over two years of leadership uncertainty following the removal of former chairman Dr Iyorchia Ayu in March 2023.
Damagum, who had been serving in an acting capacity, took the oath of office administered by the National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade, in accordance with Article 65 of the PDP Constitution.
In his acceptance speech, Damagum expressed gratitude to the NEC and members of the National Working Committee (NWC) for their confidence in his leadership.
“Before now, I thought all we were doing was not being appreciated. This gesture is not just for me but for the entire NWC. To have navigated this party this far, we came in at a time when things were very hard, but to the glory of God, we are still intact as one indivisible party,” he said.
•PDP warns APC against one-party state
The NEC meeting also used the occasion to fire strong warnings at the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), accusing it of undermining democracy and plotting to turn Nigeria into a one-party state.
NEC condemned what it termed “state capture” by the APC, citing inducement, coercion, and intimidation during recent bye-elections. The party particularly decried the militarisation of polls in Kaduna, Taraba, and Zamfara states, where it said “excessive deployment of security personnel was made for a run-off election in just five polling units.”
According to the communiqué, these actions were “a clear confirmation of the APC’s desire to impose a totalitarian regime and erode the country’s democratic values,” warning that the trend, if unchecked, poses a grave threat to national unity.
The PDP reassured Nigerians that it remained committed to defending democracy, safeguarding citizens’ interests, and repositioning itself to reclaim power in 2027.
NEC adjourned its next meeting to Wednesday, October 15, 2025.
•Zoning of offices vindicates Wike, says aide
Meanwhile, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, have declared that members of the G-5 governors’ group have been vindicated.
The Minister’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, in a statement, said the NEC’s position vindicated the stance of Wike and the G-5 governors in 2022.
“Now that the party has realised its mistake of not listening to Wike and the G-5 in 2022, and has chosen to do what they said three years later, have they not been vindicated now?” Olayinka queried.
He recalled that in 2022, the G-5 had insisted that since Atiku Abubakar, a northerner, emerged as the PDP presidential candidate, then chairman Senator Iyorchia Ayu, also from the North, must resign to allow for power balance. But Ayu, backed by Atiku’s camp, refused to step down — a decision Olayinka said contributed to the PDP’s electoral defeat in 2023.
“Wike simply said, take the chairmanship to the South if you want to gain the Presidency, but they said no, they must take the two, and the PDP lost. Today, NEC has resolved that since the National Chairman is in the North, the Presidency must go South. Is that not eating back their own vomit?” he asked.
The statement, however, warned that the decision might be coming too late, stressing that zoning can only be fully justified if the South completes eight years before the Presidency returns to the North in 2031.
