***Damagum Confirmed as National Chairman
In a dramatic political twist, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has thrown its weight behind the South for the 2027 presidential election, setting the stage for what could become one of the most heated battles in Nigeria’s democratic history.
The decision, reached at the party’s 102nd National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja on Monday, marks a sharp departure from the 2023 contest when the PDP controversially threw its ticket open — paving the way for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s candidacy and a bitter internal revolt led by then Rivers Governor (now FCT Minister), Nyesom Wike.
Addressing journalists after the high-stakes meeting, PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, revealed that the NEC unanimously adopted the recommendations of the zoning committee chaired by Bayelsa Governor, Douye Diri.
“Having retained the National Chairman in the North, the presidential candidate for 2027 is hereby zoned to the Southern Region,” Ologunagba declared, firing up speculations over which Southern heavyweight will clinch the ticket.
The NEC also confirmed Umar Damagum as the substantive National Chairman, citing his role in stabilising the PDP during turbulent times — a move seen as consolidating the party’s northern leadership while paving the way for a Southern presidential flagbearer.
Meanwhile, the party expressed full readiness for its elective National Convention, scheduled for November 15–16, 2025 in Ibadan, Oyo State — a gathering already being touted as a potential battleground for micro-zoning deals and power alignments.
But the PDP didn’t stop there. In a fiery communiqué, the opposition tore into the ruling APC, accusing it of “state capture, coercion, and militarisation” of recent bye-elections, especially in Kaduna, Taraba, and Zamfara States.
“The APC is on a dangerous mission to turn Nigeria into a totalitarian one-party state,” the statement read, vowing that the PDP will resist any attempt to “muzzle democracy and silence the Nigerian people.”
With the zoning question now settled, all eyes are on the South — and the burning question: who will emerge as the PDP’s standard-bearer to challenge President Bola Tinubu in 2027