Atiku says zoning is self‑defeating.

Kwankwaso: I Will Run With Obi

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said yesterday that the push by some opposition leaders to “zone” the 2027 presidential ticket to Southern Nigeria is “self‑defeating” and “intellectually dishonest.” He warned that competence and national unity must outweigh regional calculations.

In a statement released by his spokesperson Olusola Sanni, Atiku urged opposition actors not to adopt the view that the 2027 presidential candidacy should be reserved exclusively for the South.

The comment came as former Kano State Governor and founder of the Kwankwassiya Movement, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, told Arise TV that he supports zoning the presidency to the South for the 2027 election.

Kwankwaso also said he would be willing to serve as a running‑mate to former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, should the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) give its approval.

Over the weekend, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) likewise announced that its presidential tickets would be zoned to the southern part of the country.

Atiku argued that while the All Progressives Congress (APC) may be inclined to keep the presidency within President Bola Tinubu’s camp, it would be naïve for the opposition to copy that logic without a realistic assessment of the electoral landscape.

He stressed that political strategy should be based on coalition‑building and hard electoral arithmetic, not on emotive slogans or selective moral arguments.

“The first and most obvious question is this: how does a Southern opposition candidate realistically unseat a sitting Southern president? Nigerian political history offers no precedent for such an outcome. No incumbent president has ever been defeated by an opposition challenger from the same geopolitical bloc. To insist otherwise is to enter the contest already defeated,” he said.

Atiku added that the moral case for southern zoning collapses under scrutiny.

“By 2027, the South will have held presidential power for roughly 18 years in the Fourth Republic, compared with about 10 years for the North. If the South retains power for another four years, that disparity widens even further. It therefore becomes difficult to understand the justice in an argument that seeks to deepen an already existing imbalance under the guise of equity,” he noted.

He accused certain political actors of selective memory and opportunism, pointing to those who dropped the zoning principle in 2011 after President Umaru Yar’Adua’s death, only to now present it as a sacrosanct doctrine.

“It is intellectually dishonest for those who enthusiastically supported a Southern presidency under Goodluck Jonathan in 2011, despite the North’s legitimate expectation under the informal zoning arrangement, to now suddenly posture as custodians of rotational justice. Principles do not become sacred only when they align with personal ambition,” he said.

While affirming that the Southeast’s desire to produce a president is legitimate and deserves serious national discussion, Atiku warned against reducing that aspiration to what he called “transactional political bargaining.”

“The Southeast deserves a sustainable and credible pathway to national leadership, not symbolic tokenism or bespoke arrangements tailored to satisfy one individual’s ambition,” he added.

The former vice president called on the opposition to concentrate on building a credible national coalition capable of defeating the incumbent, rather than embracing narratives that could inadvertently bolster Tinubu’s re‑election chances.

“Defeating an incumbent president requires realism, not romanticism; strategy, not sentiment; honesty, not selective memory. The opposition must decide whether its goal is to make an emotional statement or to actually win power,” he stated.

Meanwhile, former Kano State Governor Kwankwaso reiterated his support for zoning the presidency to the South in 2027 and said he would be willing to serve as Obi’s running mate if the alliance adopts that arrangement.

Speaking on AriseTV’s PrimeTime, Kwankwaso explained that leaders within the coalition had agreed to back a southern presidential candidate to preserve national balance and address concerns about power rotation.

He said this makes Obi the likely flag‑bearer of the alliance for the 2027 election.

“That is how it should be,” Kwankwaso responded when asked whether Obi would emerge as the coalition’s front‑runner. “If the party decides that I should be the running mate of any candidate from the south under the circumstances, I will be happy to work together with him.”

Kwankwaso said the decision followed extensive consultations among party leaders and stakeholders who believe the country urgently needs competent and committed leadership rather than another divisive debate over regional power.

“What is key now is not presidency from the North or from the South. What is key is to have quality leadership, people who are enthusiastic, determined and committed to give the country the leadership it deserves,” he asserted.

The former defence minister noted that many Nigerians, especially youths, are becoming less preoccupied with ethnicity and religion and more focused on leaders who can address insecurity, economic hardship and poor infrastructure.

He praised Obi as a credible partner in the drive for national transformation.

“Personally, I cannot remember any better combination, no matter how much time you are given to find those who can beat us in terms of doing the right thing for this country,” he said.

Kwankwaso dismissed speculation that rivalry could arise between him and Obi if they run on the same ticket, insisting that his political experience shows successful partnerships between leaders and their deputies are possible.

Drawing on his tenure as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and Governor of Kano State, he observed that greed and personal ambition often fuel conflicts within governments. “There is too much to be done for anybody to be fighting over power,” he remarked.

He defended the growing alliance between the Kwankwassiya and Obi’s Obidient movements, saying both groups are already collaborating across the country and in the diaspora.

According to him, the coalition is gaining support from Nigerians dissatisfied with the current state of the nation.

On the ruling APC, Kwankwaso argued that despite its control of many states and political structures, Nigerians are becoming disillusioned with governance at both federal and state levels.

“The election of 2027 will be between Nigerians and the leaders,” he said, adding that many citizens are yearning for change because of economic hardship, insecurity and governance failures.

He also criticised political leaders for underestimating the influence of young Nigerians and social media, stressing that the younger generation now cares more about effective leadership than ethnic or regional considerations.

Kwankwaso concluded that the opposition coalition remains focused on building a broad‑based movement capable of delivering what he described as “solid and credible leadership” for Nigeria.