Former presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dele Momodu, has criticized the zoning of presidential tickets ahead of the 2027 general election.

Momodu, in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Monday, described it as a tool of blackmail designed to weaken opposition parties.

He said zoning sentiments were unconstitutional and deliberately targeted at reducing competition against President Bola Tinubu.

“There is nothing in the Nigerian Constitution that stops anyone, whether you are a northerner or a southerner, from contesting.

“This so-called sentiment is a result and reward of blackmail from some people who want to deliberately keep all other parties down.

“Because they know that if you zone all other parties to the South in the presidency, none of them will be able to beat Asiwaju (President Bola Tinubu),” Momodu said.

He argued that zoning was being manipulated to favour the ruling party.

“It is very clear. Once you keep all parties and you say, ‘Come and compete,’ people are going to tell you that Asiwaju is already our president, so why are we looking for another president?

“That is the strategy. That is why any right-thinking political party should throw its door open,” he added.

Weighing on the state of the PDP, Momodu maintained that the party had been “hijacked” and was no longer capable of rescuing itself from internal sabotage.

“PDP has been completely hijacked by agents of the ruling party who insist on staying in PDP while working for APC.

“It’s a kind of anomaly. If I don’t agree with my party, the honourable thing to do is to resign, and that’s what I did.

“PDP is at a dead end. Some people are desperate; they don’t want to kill it, but they want to keep it in the ICU for whatever purpose in the future.

“That is why they have refused to leave. Everybody is just now using PDP as a cadaver room, a place where you keep bodies that are dead or kept in the ICU. It’s a shame, but I have left,” he said.

Momodu, now a chieftain of the opposition coalition African Democratic Congress (ADC), clarified that no candidate, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, had been promised an automatic ticket by the party.

“I don’t think ADC has promised to give an automatic ticket to anyone, including Atiku Abubakar. He is not the sole candidate of ADC,” he said.

Zoning

The zoning debate resurfaced after the PDP’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on August 25, where the party resolved to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South while retaining the chairmanship in the North.

The NEC also confirmed Umar Damagum as its national chairman following the suspension of Senator Iyorchia Ayu in March 2023.

Party leaders explained that the decision was aimed at stabilising the PDP ahead of the next election cycle.

However, critics argue that zoning could undermine its chances against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which has already adopted President Tinubu as its candidate for the 2027 polls.

Although the PDP has yet to announce its flagbearer for 2027, Wike, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, warned earlier this year that zoning the party’s ticket to the North would fail. (Channels TV)