A former House of Representatives member, Tajudeen Yusuf, has warned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the southern region or risk ruin.
Yusuf, a member of the Nyesom Wike group within the PDP, spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday.
“No single politician can win an election without collective goodwill. Zone to the south and see what will happen, but if we continue this trajectory and continue to progress in error, we are postponing the doomsday,” he stated.
Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT); and other G5 members met on Monday and advocated that the PDP zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the Southern region of the country.
The PDP has been in crisis since losing the 2023 presidential election. Photo: X@Lere Olayinka.
Yusuf urged the PDP to zone its 2027 ticket to the South to restore unity and attract key figures like Peter Obi of the Labour Party back to the fold.
“If today, the PDP ticket is zoned to the South, I have a conviction Peter Obi will be more comfortable coming to PDP, but if it’s not zoned and the dynamics and dialectics of primaries are allowed to play, he might not, just like he moved when it was not zoned and guaranteed a vice presidency. PDP should do the right thing first,” he said.
The ex-lawmaker also addressed Atiku Abubakar’s current political standing, noting that the former vice president is no longer in the PDP but is part of the ongoing coalition talks.
“Atiku is out of PDP; he is in the coalition with a lot of people,” he said, suggesting that the party must move beyond relying on individual figures to reclaim its electoral strength.
The PDP chieftain attributed the party’s 2023 presidential election loss to poor leadership decisions and a controversial northern zoning strategy.
He pointed to PDP’s internal fractures, particularly the fallout from Atiku candidacy, as a key reason for the party’s defeat.
“I blame Atiku for the 2023 election loss,” he said, criticising the decision to zone the presidential ticket to the North.
“If Atiku had not bungled the Obi relationship, if Obi had remained in PDP, and he had picked Obi as vice president, he would have won the election. Obi represented the southern agitations. Nigerians were looking for something different.”
Atiku Abubakar and Ifeanyi Okowa campaigns in Asaba, Delta State on Tuesday, January 24th, 2023.
Yusuf lamented Okowa’s recent defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), expressing regret that the 2023 campaign of the PDP heightened the grievances of party men.