Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has declared that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stands little chance of unseating President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election unless it urgently reviews its zoning structure.
Wike issued the warning on Monday during a live media session, expressing strong dissatisfaction over the party’s continued disregard for its constitutional guidelines on rotational leadership. According to him, the refusal to adhere to zoning principles—particularly in the selection of the party chairman and presidential candidate—played a key role in the PDP’s loss in the 2023 elections.
Reflecting on the previous electoral cycle, Wike criticized the emergence of both the party’s national chairman and presidential flagbearer from the northern region, saying it violated the party’s foundational practice of balancing leadership positions across zones. He warned that repeating such a strategy in 2027 would be disastrous.
“If the PDP isn’t careful, it will suffer the same fate. In 2023, we clearly advised that it was time to uphold our tradition—one zone cannot take both the chairman and the presidential ticket. But selfish interests took over, and the rules were ignored,” Wike said.
He further accused certain individuals within the party of manipulating internal processes to serve personal ambitions. He noted that the consequences of those actions included overconfidence and disunity, which contributed to the party’s failure at the polls.
“Before long, people had already purchased nomination forms without any agreement on zoning. When arrogance and selfishness take over, the system suffers. If we don’t learn from 2023 and commit to zoning the presidential ticket to the South, we will face the same outcome,” Wike warned.
His remarks come as former Senate President Adolphus Wabara inaugurated 41 new members into the PDP’s Board of Trustees, urging them to contribute to revitalizing the party.
Nonetheless, Wike insisted that unless the PDP takes decisive steps to correct past mistakes, its aspirations for 2027 may remain out of reach.
