“PDP’s 2027 Zoning to South is Wike’s Done Deal for Tinubu’s Re-election” — Dele Momodu

Publisher and politician, Dele Momodu, has lashed out at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over its decision to zone the 2027 presidential ticket to Southern Nigeria, calling it “the most reckless decision in the history of our nascent democracy.”

In a statement shared on Instagram on Tuesday, Momodu accused the party of bowing to “cheap and puerile blackmail” from figures within its fold who, according to him, are working in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He described the move as a strategic blunder that effectively plays into President Bola Tinubu’s re-election plans.

Momodu linked the zoning arrangement directly to former Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike, suggesting that Tinubu is the ultimate beneficiary. “Who did not know that ultimately the hand was that of Wike while the voice was that of Tinubu? Their gameplan is not hidden. Wike keeps belching orders at helpless governors who are too jittery to stand firm against daredevil dictatorship,” he wrote.

He accused the PDP of handing over its political structures to Tinubu, insisting that Wike would ensure the party supports the president in 2027 despite public claims to the contrary. “The geniuses should be courageous enough to admit that Tinubu will be the joint candidate of APC and PDP in 2027. No Jupiter will stop Wike from using PDP structures for Tinubu. That’s already a done deal,” Momodu said.

The former presidential aspirant also dismissed speculation that the PDP could field figures such as former President Goodluck Jonathan, Peter Obi or Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde as candidates, describing such talk as “blatant lies from the pit of hell.”

Momodu further accused the party of hypocrisy, pointing to past political precedents. He recalled that after President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s death, no one insisted the North must complete his tenure when Goodluck Jonathan took over, eventually running for re-election. He also questioned the logic of zoning in light of Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim ticket, arguing that selective appeals to fairness weaken the party’s credibility.