The NDC has zoned its 2027 presidential ticket to the south and its 2031 ticket to the north, after a motion at its national convention on Saturday. The decision immediately drew public backing from Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who said the arrangement gives the south a chance to complete its turn in producing national leadership.
The motion was moved by Afam Victor and seconded by Seyi Sowumi, setting the tone for a convention that linked power rotation to party balance and national reconciliation. Kwankwaso described the zoning as a true opportunity for healing and said the party would work in abidance with its agreement to ensure fairness and federal character in all ramifications.
His support matters because it gives the decision political weight beyond the convention floor. Kwankwaso said Nigeria is at a critical crossroads, blaming the country’s current troubles on poor leadership and bad governance. He said insecurity, economic hardship and declining public services have worsened life for millions, with many people displaced from their homes.
The zoning also fits into a wider argument he made about how the party should present itself to voters. Kwankwaso said the NDC would prioritise leadership devoid of ethnic jingoism and religious favouritism, and he urged supporters to register with the Independent National Electoral Commission to vote.
He tied that message to Nigeria’s political past, pointing to the 1954 alliance between Aminu Kano’s Northern Elements Progressive Union and Nnamdi Azikiwe’s National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons, the 1960 coalition between the NCNC and the Northern People’s Congress, and the second republic partnership between Shehu Shagari and Alex Ekwueme under the NPN. In his telling, those arrangements helped preserve unity and restore civilian rule.
The test now is whether the NDC can turn a zoning pledge into a durable political compact. Kwankwaso has made clear where he stands: he wants the south to take its turn first, and he wants the party to sell that decision as part of a larger promise of fairness, federal character and national repair.
