PDP erred by presenting Atiku as candidate in 2023- Abba Moro
Senate Minority Leader, Abba Moro, has conceded that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) erred by presenting former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as its candidate in the 2023 presidential election.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, August 26, Moro admitted that the party’s decision to discard its traditional zoning arrangement and allow a northern candidate to contest after President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure was a major blunder that contributed to its loss.
“In 2022, the PDP, in its bid to wrestle power from the APC, abandoned zoning and threw the contest open. Eventually, that backfired because Nigerians rejected the idea of a northern candidate succeeding another northern president. That decision, in part, cost us the election,” he explained.
According to him, the defeat forced the PDP to re-examine its choices. “We’ve reconciled, reviewed, and virtually all of us agree that fielding a northern candidate in 2023 was a mistake,” Moro said.
He revealed that in the interest of unity and fairness, the PDP has now resolved to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South. “In the spirit of equity and justice, leaders of the PDP have agreed that the South should produce the next presidential candidate. Nigerians have made it clear that our 2023 decision was an error, and we cannot afford to repeat it,” he added.
Reflecting on the loss, Moro described it as a bitter experience. “We lost a monumental election in a disastrous manner,” he lamented.
His remarks follow the party’s formal announcement zoning its 2027 presidential ticket to the South — a move leaders say is designed to restore balance, fairness, and unity within the PDP.
