Former Deputy Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has warned that the party’s decision to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South could deepen divisions in the country.
Speaking during an interview with Arise TV, Olawepo-Hashim argued that zoning elective offices is unconstitutional and discriminatory.
“My opposition to zoning the presidency is not because I want it to come to the North-Central. I am against it because it goes against the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The constitution does not permit any party to zone an elected political office, such as the president, on account of region. It is discriminatory.”
According to him, no political party in Nigeria’s history has ever formally barred candidates from contesting because of where they come from.
He recalled the 1999 elections, saying there was an unwritten agreement that the presidency should go to the South-West after the annulment of the June 12 election, but candidates from other zones were not excluded.
“Dr. Alex Ekwueme from the South-East contested. Abubakar Rimi from the North-West also contested. The leaders, in a mature manner, allowed delegates to make the final choice,” he explained.
Olawepo-Hashim stressed that pushing zoning as a policy could fuel tension among Nigerians.
“The danger in this kind of thing is that you pitch one section of the country against another, which is a very terrible low,” he warned.
He maintained that Nigerians are more concerned about competence and leadership than where the president comes from.
“Nigerians are not interested in where the president comes from. Nigerians want a competent president, a president who can fix the economy, a president who can fix national security, from any zone,” he said.
Referring to the last election, he added that President Bola Tinubu, though from the South, got most of his votes from the North.
“He lost in Lagos. He struggled there. That shows you that the Nigerian electorate is not carried away by what some political elites are trying to push,” Olawepo-Hashim said.
