Former presidential aspirant and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dele Momodu, has dismissed the zoning of presidential tickets as unconstitutional and a deliberate ploy to weaken opposition parties ahead of the 2027 elections.
Gatekeepers News reports that the former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart, while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, argued that zoning had become “a tool of blackmail” manipulated to ensure President Bola Tinubu faces little or no competition.
“There is nothing in the Nigerian Constitution that stops anyone, whether you are a northerner or a southerner, from contesting,” Momodu said. “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 (Tinubu).”
Momodu maintained that zoning only plays into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)’s advantage.
“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.
On the state of his former party, Momodu was blunt: “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 resign—and that’s what I did.”
He described the PDP as “a cadaver room,” saying:
“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. 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.”
Momodu further clarified that the ADC has not offered an automatic presidential ticket to any aspirant, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
“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.
The zoning controversy 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 and retain its chairmanship in the North. The NEC also confirmed Umar Damagum as national chairman following the suspension of Senator Iyorchia Ayu in March 2023.
Party leaders defended the zoning decision as a move to stabilise the PDP ahead of the next election cycle, but critics—including Momodu—warn it could further diminish the party’s chances against the APC, which has already adopted President Tinubu as its 2027 candidate.
