Zoning Dispute: Northern Youths Reject PDP’s 2027 Presidential Ticket Allocation

The Joint Action Committee of Northern Youth Associations (JACON) has strongly condemned the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) decision to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South, warning that the move amounts to the political marginalisation of the North.

Speaking to journalists in Kaduna on Tuesday, the group cautioned that this zoning decision could have “grave consequences” for the PDP in the upcoming general elections, according to iReporter Online.

The PDP’s National Executive Committee, at its 102nd meeting held in Abuja on Monday, resolved that the party’s next presidential candidate must come from the South. However, JACON described the move as unfair, emphasizing that despite being the backbone of the PDP’s electoral successes since 1999, the North has been denied equitable access to the presidency under the party.

Reading from a prepared statement, Ambassador Sani Yaya, JACON’s Director of Media and Public Affairs, said, “It is an undeniable historical fact that the North was short-changed during PDP’s 16 years in power. While the South dominated the presidency for over a decade, the North barely had two and a half years. To now zone the ticket back to the South in 2027 is a deliberate attempt to permanently sideline the region,” according to iReporter Online.

The group insisted that justice and fairness demand that the PDP return the presidential ticket to the North in 2027. JACON further warned that the North would no longer serve as the “political beast of burden” for a party that depends heavily on its votes but denies it leadership.

“The North can no longer continue to be the political beast of burden for a party that only uses its votes but denies it leadership. If this injustice is not corrected, we will mobilize our entire structures to respond appropriately at the polls,” the statement said.

The committee also announced plans to convene an emergency meeting of its affiliate bodies to devise a comprehensive strategy to counter the PDP’s zoning formula. They urged Northern political, traditional, and religious leaders to resist what they described as a “brazen act of exclusion,” stressing, “The time for acquiescence is over,”according to iReporter Online.

”IREPORTER REPORTS”