ABUJA — The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is set to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South, signaling a strategic shift aimed at restoring internal equity and addressing longstanding concerns over the rotation of power within the party.
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This was confirmed by the PDP Deputy National Youth Leader, Hon. Timothy Osadolor, who disclosed that the party has officially opened its presidential ticket to all eligible aspirants from the Southern region.
Speaking ahead of the party’s critical meetings scheduled for today and tomorrow in Abuja — including sessions of the PDP Caucus, Board of Trustees (BoT), and National Executive Committee (NEC) — Osadolor said the move was part of broader preparations for the PDP’s forthcoming national convention.
“This is not a contentious NEC,” Osadolor told journalists. “We are coming to NEC to make preparations and discuss the way forward towards our national convention. Many states are yet to conduct congresses, and we may seek the powers of NEC to ratify those already held. More importantly, we will examine the work done by the committees on zoning.”
On the issue of the party’s presidential ticket, Osadolor emphasized: “The PDP has opened the presidential ticket to all eligible southerners. We are zoning to the South.”
The zoning decision is widely seen as a response to internal agitation following the party’s 2023 presidential primaries, where former Vice President Atiku Abubakar — a northerner — clinched the ticket. His emergence triggered backlash from several Southern stakeholders, who argued that the party had abandoned its unwritten convention of rotating the presidency between the North and South.
Zoning the 2027 ticket to the South may help unify the party and boost its chances in the next general elections. The upcoming NEC and BoT meetings are expected to formally ratify the decision and chart the PDP’s path forward.
