Fresh cracks have opened in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the battle over its 2027 zoning formula pits Southern leaders against each other.
A consultative meeting of the zoning committee in Lagos on Wednesday has sparked outrage, with key stakeholders from the South-East and South-South dismissing it as “illegal, divisive and unrepresentative.”
Southern PDP Chairmen Kick
In a fiery joint statement, PDP state chairmen from Imo, Abia, Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Rivers—backed by senators, House of Reps members and former national officers—rejected the Lagos session outright.
They declared that “no resolution or communiqué from the meeting holds any authority,” accusing the organisers of plotting in secrecy while sidelining elected state chairmen, national officers and influential former governors.
“Decisions reached in exclusion cannot and shall not be imposed on PDP members across Southern Nigeria,” they warned.
Makinde Hits Back
But Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, who led pro-Lagos voices, waved off the criticisms.
“This was a consultative meeting, not a statutory one. NEC will decide on zoning on Monday. Politics is about reaching out, and that is what we are doing,” he said.
Makinde, flanked by Governors Duoye Diri and Ademola Adeleke, ex-Governor Udom Emmanuel, BoT Chairman Adolphus Wabara, and PDP heavyweights, insisted the Lagos talks were legitimate and aimed at reviving the party.
He also threw a jab at FCT Minister Nyesom Wike over his comments on the South-South leadership crisis: “When people go low, I don’t follow them into the gutters.”
Party on the Edge
The zoning battle has now thrown the PDP deeper into uncertainty, with rival camps preparing for a showdown ahead of Monday’s NEC meeting.
While the anti-Lagos bloc insists the process is already compromised, Makinde and his allies argue that the consultations are necessary to keep the PDP alive.
“The real task is to save the party first before talking about presidential candidates,” Makinde said.
But with angry chairmen, excluded stakeholders and bitter regional rivalries, the PDP’s zoning war threatens to explode — just two years to the 2027 polls.
