The decision by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to allocate its 2027 presidential ticket to southern Nigeria has triggered a backlash from influential northern groups, exposing deep rifts within the country’s main opposition party.
At its 102nd National Executive Committee meeting on Monday, the PDP resolved that its next presidential candidate would come from the South, while retaining Ambassador Umar Damagum as acting national chair. The move, intended to balance the party’s leadership structure, has instead inflamed old regional tensions and raised fears of electoral fallout in the North, a region long regarded as the PDP’s strongest voting base.
Prominent northern voices, including Arewa Youth Consultative Forum president Yerima Shettima, have condemned the decision as undemocratic. “By preemptively zoning the presidential ticket to the South, the PDP appears to be constraining fundamental rights, effectively sidelining potential candidates from the North,” he said, warning that the move risked alienating millions of voters and handing President Bola Tinubu an easier path to re-election.
Other groups, such as the North Central Renaissance Movement, argued that the PDP’s decision ignored their zone’s historic exclusion from the presidency and vice-presidency. Its leader, Professor K’tso Nghargbu, told reporters in Abuja that the North Central, despite its resources and loyalty, had been “consistently shortchanged politically.” He said failure to correct this imbalance could cost the PDP millions of votes in 2027.
In Kaduna, the Joint Action Committee of Northern Youth Associations described the move as “anti-democratic, unjust, and a monumental betrayal.” Spokesman Sani Yaya accused the PDP of reneging on its long-standing claim to rotational fairness and warned of “grave political consequences” unless the decision was reversed.
The Coalition of Northern Groups added its voice, calling the zoning “a deliberate attempt to shortchange the North of its democratic right.” Its coordinator, Jamilu Charanchi, insisted that presidential contests should remain open: “When you zone both the national chairmanship and the presidency to one region, it becomes a problem. Restricting it this way will shortchange those with capacity, integrity, and passion for the country.”
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), however, struck a more cautious tone. Its publicity secretary, Prof. Tukur Muhammad-Baba, said it was “premature” to draw firm conclusions, noting that the 2027 election calendar had not yet officially begun. But former ACF secretary-general Anthony Sani suggested that zoning had shaped past outcomes, pointing to Tinubu’s 2023 victory over Atiku Abubakar in the North.
Political analysts warn that the zoning row could deepen divisions in a party still struggling to rebuild after its loss of federal power in 2015. Kaduna-based commentator Dr. Ibrahim Ahmed said the PDP risked “bleeding support in the North” if it stuck to its plan. “The North has always been a critical bloc for the PDP. Alienating it could be politically suicidal,” he said.
For many northern stakeholders, the controversy has reawakened long-standing grievances over fairness, representation, and the balance of power in a country where ethnicity and region remain central to political calculations. With Tinubu expected to seek a second term under the APC, some warn that the PDP’s gamble could inadvertently push northern voters into the president’s camp.
