Aide Wike said the zoning of the PDP President’s ticket, was the right step, but the wrong time

Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication and Social Media to the Federal Capital Region, Lere Olayinka, has described the people’s Democratic Democratic Decision (PDP) to make a 2027 Presidential Ticket Zone to the south while maintaining national leadership in the north as a justification for his school principal, Nyesom Wike.

In a statement issued on Monday, Olayinka argued that the party’s rejection to adopt this formula ahead of the 2023 election was responsible for his defeat in the election.

“Now the party has realized his mistake by not listening to Wike and G-5 in 2022, and has chosen to do what they say three years later, are they not proven now?” He asked.

Olayinka remembered that Wike and G-5 Governor insisted that PDP could not maintain the presidential candidate and national chairman in the same geopolitical zone. At that time, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, from the north, had emerged as a presidential candidate, while Senator Iyorchia Ayu, also from the north, refused to resign from her position as national chairman.

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“Wike just said, ‘Take the leadership to the south if you want to get the president.’ But they say no, they have to take both, and PDP loses, “said Olayinka.

He added that even though the party seemed to have learned from his mistakes, the time had caused concern.
“They were aware of the mistakes they made in 2022 and corrected it in 2025. But is it not too late, given that the only way of zoning can be justified is that the south concludes eight years, while the president returned to the north in 2031?” He stated.

The National Executive Council of PDP (NEC), at his meeting in Abuja on Monday, decided for the presidential slot zone for the 2027 election in the south, while emphasizing that the national leadership position would remain in the north.

NEC also confirmed Umar Damagum as the National Substantive Party Chairperson. Damagum, who has served as Deputy Chairperson of the National (North), took a role in capacity acting in March 2023 after the suspension of Senator Iyorchia Ayu, a decision which was then upheld by the court.