ABUJA, Nigeria — Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has cautioned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against repeating what he called the “mistake of 2023” by zoning its 2027 presidential ticket to the north.
Speaking during a media chat on Monday, May 12, 2025, Wike said the PDP must clearly declare that its next presidential candidate will emerge from the south, warning that any attempt to shift the ticket back to the north would be politically self-defeating.
“Why not, as a party, come out openly and say our presidential candidate will come out from the south?” Wike asked.
“You don’t want to do that. You want to play the same game you played in 2023. It will backfire.”
Accusing the party of harbouring selfish interests, Wike said the PDP risks alienating its southern base if it fails to zone the presidency appropriately.
“This smartness won’t help you. Come out now and let everybody know where you are heading. You can’t send the presidency to the north. I told them. Selfishness can kill a system,” he added.
Wike argued that if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), wins re-election in 2027, the APC will likely zone its 2031 presidential ticket to the north.
He questioned whether the PDP would then attempt to match that decision with its own northern candidate, thereby undermining regional balance and fairness.
The remarks are the latest in a series of interventions by Wike, who has long been vocal about internal zoning arrangements within the PDP.
In 2022, ahead of the 2023 elections, Wike and a group of five PDP governors—known as the G5—refused to support the party’s presidential candidate, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, after the party opted to jettison zoning and threw the primary contest open.
That decision caused a deep rift within the party, one that many analysts believe contributed to its electoral underperformance in 2023.
Wike’s latest comments are seen as a direct challenge to potential northern aspirants such as Abubakar, who in 2024 declared his continued intention to contest the presidency “as long as I am hale and hearty.”
The PDP is currently engaged in internal reconciliation efforts and is expected to hold a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting later this month, where zoning and the roadmap to its 2027 convention are likely to be key topics.
