Photo combo of FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike and PDP logo
By EZEKIEL OBI, Abuja-
Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) decision to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South has been hailed as a validation of the position held by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, according to his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka.
In a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja, Olayinka emphasized that the PDP National Executive Committee’s (NEC) resolution on Monday to retain the party’s national chairmanship in the North aligns with the stance Wike and his G-5 group advocated in 2022.
Olayinka remarked, “The NEC’s decision, three years after Wike and the G-5’s counsel was ignored, proves they were right all along. By zoning the 2027 presidential ticket to the South while keeping the chairmanship in the North, the PDP has acknowledged its 2022 error.”
He highlighted that Wike had consistently argued for a balanced representation, insisting that the party’s presidential candidate and national chairman should not hail from the same geopolitical zone.
According to Olayinka, Wike’s demand was clear: “If the presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, was from the North, then Sen. Iyorchia Ayu, also a Northerner, should have stepped down as national chairman to allow a Southerner to take the role.”
He noted that Ayu’s refusal to resign contributed significantly to the PDP’s defeat in the 2023 elections and the party’s subsequent internal turmoil.
Olayinka questioned the timing of the PDP’s course correction, stating, “The party leadership knew the truth but ignored it. Now, in 2025, they are correcting their mistake, but is it too late?
“Zoning the presidency to the South only makes sense if the South completes an eight-year tenure, with the presidency returning to the North in 2031.”
