Dele Momodu
Ola Wale
Dele Momodu’s appearance on Channels Television’s _Politics Today_ on May 19, 2026, was centered on one argument: the zoning debate ahead of the 2027 presidential election is giving President Bola Tinubu an easier path to re-election. The veteran journalist and PDP chieftain said opposition politicians are wasting time arguing over which region should produce the next president instead of focusing on a strategy that can actually defeat the incumbent. He warned that if they continue along this line, they risk handing Tinubu victory by default.
Momodu was blunt about his view on zoning, saying there is no constitutional basis for it and that treating it as a requirement is a distraction. He argued that Nigeria’s constitution does not mention zoning and that opposition parties are weakening themselves by insisting the presidency must remain in the South. In his words, “Strategically, there is no basis for zoning. Anybody who wants to remove Tinubu will have to come from the opposite direction.” For him, the conversation should shift from geography to candidate strength and political calculation.
His alternative strategy is for the opposition to field a northern candidate. Momodu said the North remains a decisive political bloc and that if it rallies behind one person, that candidate would be difficult to beat. He named Atiku Abubakar and Aminu Tambuwal as examples of politicians from the region who could fit the role, describing the North as the only place that is “free” in the current power equation. The logic is that a united northern front would force southern voters and other regions to respond, rather than fragmenting into multiple candidacies.
Momodu also directed a message to southern politicians who are positioning themselves for 2027. He said figures like former President Goodluck Jonathan, Peter Obi, and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde should meet urgently and consider stepping down for a consensus candidate. The goal, he explained, is to avoid splitting the South’s votes across several contenders while the North consolidates behind one. Without that kind of coordination, he believes the opposition will be outmaneuvered again.
This is not a new position for Momodu. He has repeatedly criticized the PDP’s decision to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South, describing it as “the most reckless decision in the history of our nascent democracy”. In earlier statements, he accused the party of bowing to pressure from individuals he said are secretly working for the ruling APC. He linked the zoning move to former Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike and suggested it was part of a broader plan to weaken the opposition from within.
The timing of his comments matters because political positioning for 2027 is already underway, even though the election is still nearly two years away. Debates over power rotation between North and South have dominated conversations since 2023, and Momodu’s intervention reframes the issue as a tactical mistake by the opposition. He has also questioned the performance of the Tinubu administration, asking Nigerians whether their lives are better now than under Buhari, but he insists that poor governance alone won’t unseat a sitting president without a unified challenger.
Momodu’s argument is rooted in electoral math and regional voting patterns. He believes that if the North presents a single candidate, the numbers will be hard to overcome, regardless of how many southern candidates enter the race. He is essentially urging the opposition to abandon symbolic arguments about fairness and focus on what he sees as the only viable route to victory. For him, the priority should be removing Tinubu, and that requires making uncomfortable concessions about where the candidate comes from.
What remains unclear is whether opposition parties will take his advice. PDP, ADC, and other groups are still navigating internal divisions, and the idea of ceding the ticket to the North is not popular with many southern stakeholders. But Momodu’s point has reignited the zoning debate and put pressure on opposition leaders to show whether they can agree on a candidate or will repeat the fragmentation that helped Tinubu win in 2023.
