A former House of Representatives member, Tajudeen Yusuf, has warned the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to comply with the recent resolution by PDP stakeholders led by Nyesom Wike or risk doom.
Days ago, Federal Capital Territory Minister, Wike, regrouped with his G5, made up of four former governors and concerned PDP stakeholders, and asked the party leadership to make an announcement unequivocally zoning the candidacy for the 2027 Presidential elections to the South.
A communique issued after the meeting was read by Wike.
Throwing his weight behind the decision, Yusuf, who is an ally of Wike, said anything to the contrary would spell doom for the party.
He made the assertion while appearing 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.
“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.
NATIONAL POST recalls that prior to the 2023 presidential election, there were clamours for the PDP to micro zone its ticket to the South-East.
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar made it clear then that the only condition he would step down from the race was if the party micro-zoned the ticket to the South-East.
However, the zoning committee, which had Wike’s man, former governor Samuel Ortom of Benue, threw the ticket open, an action believed to have been done to favour Wike.
But Wike lost the ticket to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. This marked the genesis of the crisis in the party, which has lingered till date.
Meanwhile, Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinder, a hitherto member of the G5, did not attend the PDP stakeholders' meeting, as he has since fallen out with Wike.