Tajudeen Yusuf, a former federal lawmaker, has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is now grappling with the fallout from sidelining its zoning principle during the 2022 presidential primaries.
Yusuf, who represented the Kabba/Bunu/Ijumu constituency in the House of Representatives, made the remarks on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme aired on Thursday.
He pointed to the decision to allow Atiku Abubakar—a northerner and former vice president—to emerge as the PDP’s 2023 presidential candidate as a critical misstep that deepened internal divisions and damaged party cohesion.
“In 2023, we lost our political compass by discarding the zoning arrangement that once held the party together,” Yusuf said. “That move has come back to haunt us.”
Calls for the PDP to zone its 2023 presidential ticket to the South were ignored, despite earlier precedents and internal expectations. Atiku’s emergence triggered backlash and deepened existing cracks, leading to a wave of defections, including high-profile exits like Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, who recently joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 elections.
Yusuf recalled that a similar controversy unfolded in 2014 following the death of President Umar Musa Yar’Adua. His successor, Goodluck Jonathan, continued in office and ran in 2011, a move that northern PDP members viewed as a breach of the zoning pact.
“That rift in 2014 led to a walkout by five governors at the party’s convention,” Yusuf said, referencing key figures like Atiku Abubakar. “The party began to unravel from that point.”
He noted that although many of those who left returned by 2019, the decision to zone the ticket to the North that year helped stabilize the party temporarily. However, the refusal to rotate the ticket back to the South in 2023 re-ignited old tensions.
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“I was present at the meeting where we debated zoning,” Yusuf revealed. “I warned that abandoning it would have consequences, especially in a country where politics is still shaped by religion and ethnicity. We’re not yet at the point where those factors can be ignored.”
He also accused those who worked against zoning of regrouping ahead of the next general election, potentially setting the stage for further internal battles.
Beyond leadership struggles, Yusuf expressed concern over the lack of financial support from current PDP governors, despite their regular meetings.
“This is the first time in nearly a decade that our governors, even while in opposition, are not funding the party,” he said.
The former lawmaker concluded by warning that the PDP is currently navigating one of the most difficult periods in its history since losing power in 2015, with leadership uncertainty, internal mistrust, and weakened grassroots structures threatening its future.
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