Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has cautioned opposition parties against zoning their 2027 presidential ticket exclusively to the southern region, warning that such a move could weaken their chances and inadvertently strengthen President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.
Atiku, in a statement issued by his media aide, Olusola Sanni, said the push for southern zoning within opposition ranks was politically “self-defeating” and not supported by Nigeria’s electoral realities.
He argued that rather than emotional or symbolic reasoning, opposition parties should focus on strategy, coalition-building, and “hard electoral arithmetic” if they hope to dislodge an incumbent president.
According to him, no sitting president in Nigeria’s democratic history has been defeated by a challenger from the same geopolitical zone, describing any such expectation as unrealistic.
“The idea that a Southern opposition candidate can unseat a Southern incumbent president defies political history in Nigeria,” the statement read. “To ignore this reality is to go into an election already at a disadvantage.”
Atiku further maintained that arguments in favour of zoning the presidency to the South on grounds of fairness fail to stand up to scrutiny, insisting that power distribution under the Fourth Republic already shows regional imbalance.
He noted that by 2027, the South would have held the presidency for roughly 18 years compared to about 10 years for the North, warning that further extension would widen the gap.
The former vice president also accused some political actors of inconsistency, recalling that many who now advocate strict zoning supported a southern presidency in 2011 following the death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
“It is contradictory for those who once dismissed zoning considerations to now elevate it as a sacred principle only when it suits their interests,” the statement added.
While acknowledging the Southeast’s long-standing aspiration to produce a president, Atiku stressed that such ambition must be pursued within a viable national framework rather than what he described as “political tokenism.”
He urged opposition parties to prioritise building a strong, united front capable of competing effectively against the ruling All Progressives Congress.
“Winning against an incumbent requires strategy, not sentiment,” he said. “The opposition must decide whether it is making a statement or genuinely seeking power.”
Meanwhile, The PUNCH understands that some opposition parties, including the Nigeria Democratic Congress, have recently zoned their presidential ticket to the southern region ahead of the 2027 polls.
