The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has officially launched the zoning process that will determine the region to produce its 2027 presidential candidate.
Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri, who heads the PDP national zoning committee, confirmed the development after a meeting in Abuja on Monday.
He explained that the decision was first agreed upon during the PDP Governors’ Forum meeting held on Saturday in Gusau, Zamfara State, with input from the Board of Trustees (BoT), former governors, ministers, and other organs of the party.
“One of the decisions that was arrived at in that meeting is that we should not only zone the party offices, but as a national zoning committee, we should equally zone the presidency. So that arose from that meeting,” Diri said.
The PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) had earlier fixed November 15 and 16 for its national convention to elect new members of the National Working Committee (NWC). Ahead of the convention, a 44-member zoning committee was set up to distribute NWC offices across the geopolitical zones.
Last week, some PDP leaders from the South-East and South-South criticised the committee over a Lagos meeting they described as “secret,” alleging that several key stakeholders were sidelined. The aggrieved members, including state chairmen, vowed to reject any outcome “reached in secrecy.”
In response, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde assured that the party would engage with those who felt excluded.
PDP NEC to Review Proposals
The PDP’s NEC, its highest decision-making body, is expected to meet today to deliberate on the zoning recommendations for both NWC offices and the presidential ticket.
Speaking after Monday’s session, Diri reiterated that the committee was acting within its constitutional mandate.
“After we presented our report from the last meeting, the leadership was satisfied with our work, but also directed us to proceed further. They pointed out that, based on the section of the party’s constitution cited in our appointment letters, it is clear that we must handle the zoning of both party offices and the presidency,” he said.
“So today, we are going to look into that as well. As you know, the NEC meeting is scheduled for 2 pm, which is why we convened this session earlier — to take far-reaching decisions, complete our assignment, and report back to NEC on our work.”
Traditionally, the PDP balances its leadership structure between north and south. If the chairmanship is zoned to the north, the presidential ticket usually goes to the south and vice versa.
In 2021, the chairmanship was ceded to the north, but the presidential ticket was left open in 2022, a move that sparked internal disputes that remain unresolved.
