Buba Galadima, a political associate of Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, says the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has zoned its 2027 presidential ticket to the south.
Speaking on Monday when he featured on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Galadima said NDC would submit its membership register to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on May 5 or 6.
“Once we do that, we are good to go,” he said. Asked about the NDC’s position on zoning and the mode of candidate selection, he said, “We have zoned the party’s presidential candidature to the south. No missing votes. We’ve zoned it to the south.”
Pressed on whether the party would adopt a consensus candidate or hold primaries, Galadima said “primaries” remain the NDC’s immediate focus. On Sunday, Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), who is from south-east Nigeria, and Kwankwaso, former governor of Kano, formally joined the NDC.
Obi had earlier announced his exit from the African Democratic Congress (ADC), while Kwankwaso also hinted that he was having “wide-ranging consultations” with the NDC. Their exit from the ADC followed the party’s lingering crisis. Since the all-opposition political party leaders’ summit held in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, late last month, Obi reportedly did not attend any subsequent ADC meetings.
The former Anambra governor was reportedly displeased that zoning was not debated at the gathering.
Obi has consistently demanded zoning of the presidential ticket since he joined the ADC last year, arguing that failure to address equity and power rotation weakens the coalition and fuels distrust among stakeholders.
