Tajudeen Yusuf, a former member of the house of representatives, says the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is facing the consequences of neglecting its zoning arrangement during the 2022 presidential primaries.

Yusuf, who represented the Kabba/Bunu/Ijumu federal constituency, spoke on Thursday when he appeared on Sunrise Daily, a programme on Channels Television. 

In the build up to the 2023 presidential election, some PDP chieftains called for the zoning of the party’s presidential ticket to the south. 

However, Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, who is from the north, won the PDP presidential primary — a development that created division in the party.

There has been a recent wave of defection from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 elections, including Sheriff Oborevwori, the Delta state governor.

Speaking on the show, the ex-Kogi lawmaker said the collapse of the zoning arrangement marked a turning point for the PDP.

Yusuf said a similar debate over the party’s zoning agreement emerged in 2014, when former President Goodluck Jonathan took over after Umar Musa Yar’Adua’s passing.

He said that most party members from the north felt short-changed by Jonathan’s emergence as the party’s candidate in 2011.

“A lot has changed in PDP, but the most fundamental shift came in 2023 when we abandoned our core principle of zoning the presidency,” Yusuf said.

“If you recall, in 2014, the agitation was that Yar’Adua didn’t finish his term and Jonathan took over, which many believed ate into the North’s turn.

“That led five governors — led by prominent figures like Atiku Abubakar — to walk out of the convention at Eagle Square, marking the start of PDP’s internal crisis.

“By 2019, most of them, including Atiku and Tambuwal, returned to the party, in line with our principle, the party zoned the presidency to the North to avoid a repeat of past issues.

“By 2023, naturally, it should have rotated back to the South, but because of certain vested interests — people who felt they could influence the process — zoning was deliberately blocked.

“I was at the meeting, and I remember saying, ‘If we don’t zone, we will regret this’; because in Nigeria today, politics is still very much tied to religion and ethnicity — maybe one day that will change, but not now.”

Yusuf said those who derailed zoning in 2023 are now regrouping ahead of the next general election.

He noted that although PDP governors now meet regularly, they are not supporting the party financially.

“This is the first time in about ten years of PDP being in opposition that governors are not actually funding the party,” he said.

The lawmaker added that the PDP is going through “one of the toughest political periods” in its history since losing power in 2015.

Nine weeks after its last sitting, the National Economic Council (NEC) reconvened on Thursday with the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Ibok-Ete Ibas, among key attendees at the meeting chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The NEC, which last met on February 20, is Nigeria’s top advisory body on economic policy, comprising the Vice President, all 36 state governors, and key federal ministers.

The February meeting had focused on the launch of the Nutrition 774 initiative aimed at tackling malnutrition nationwide.

Thursday’s session is expected to be dominated by discussions on rising insecurity across the country and the growing calls for the establishment of state police—a topic that was conspicuously absent during the last meeting.

The presence of the Rivers State Sole Administrator is particularly notable, coming in the wake of political tensions and legal uncertainties surrounding the leadership of the oil-rich Niger Delta State.

Also present at the meeting were the Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, among others

The Adamawa State Police Command said its operatives arrested 148 suspects, recovered eleven AK-47 rifles and 20 locally fabricated assault rifles.

Also recovered by the command is 110 live rounds of ammunition, two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as well as three stolen vehicles.

Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Dankombo Morris disclosed this during a press briefing in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.

He said the feats were possible through the Command’s re-designed operational and intelligence capabilities and intensified security measures to address emerging threats and reduce crime within the state.

CP Morris said the strategic move has yielded significant outcome that resulted in the arrest of numerous kidnapping, armed robbery, culpable homicide, and rape suspects, as well as recovery of arms and ammunitions.

According to the CP, the two IEDs were planted by Boko Haram terrorists in some communities within Hong local government area, and were detonated.

He added that the police also rescued six kidnap victims in collaboration with sister security agencies.

The CP commended the gallant officers and men involved in these successful operations and assured the public that the Command will spare no effort in ensuring the safety and security of all residents in the state.

In an open letter addressed to President Bola Tinubu, former presidential adviser, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has called on the Nigerian leader to forgo a second term and pave the way for a younger generation of leaders ahead of the 2027 general election.

According to the letter, widely circulated on Wednesday, Baba-Ahmed urged President Tinubu to “step aside—not for your opponents, but for a new generation of Nigerians who can carry the nation forward with fresh energy and ideas.”

Baba-Ahmed, who recently resigned as Special Adviser on Political Matters in the Office of the Vice President, argued that Tinubu’s most dignified political exit would be to voluntarily retire and support new leadership.

“Our generation has done its time,” he wrote. “It would be a masterstroke if you and your party yielded the field to new voices and new leadership. That way, you could catalyse a peaceful, historic transformation and inspire a new political culture rooted in merit, unity, and progress.”

He urged the president to reflect on his legacy and warned against being consumed by re-election ambitions.

“You hold what your opposition lacks: the power to reduce the harshness of life for the average Nigerian. Use it well. Watch 2027, yes—but don’t become consumed by it,” Baba-Ahmed cautioned.

While acknowledging that the Tinubu administration inherited a difficult economic situation and an exhausted population, Baba-Ahmed said the president has failed to convert the early optimism into effective governance.

He criticised the administration’s signature policy agenda, the Renewed Hope Agenda, as “a set of campaign promises, not a coherent governance plan.” He also questioned the competence of Tinubu’s cabinet, claiming that “more than half has no business managing an administration tasked with improving security, livelihoods, or public trust.”

The former aide also disclosed that during his 18-month tenure, he never had a one-on-one meeting with the president—further evidence, he suggested, of Tinubu’s distant leadership style.

“If you shift attention now to electoral ambitions, you risk losing both governance momentum and public goodwill,” he warned. “If you win again without reforming your style and strategy, you may spend four more years preserving failure. If you lose, your legacy could be wiped out in an instant.”

Baba-Ahmed noted widespread dissatisfaction across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones.

“The North is drifting from your leadership under the weight of economic hardship, insecurity, and alienation. The East remains politically disengaged, while the South-South is fragmented. The South-West has been lukewarm, and its privileged position may become a burden. The North-East is deeply wounded and can no longer be taken for granted,” he stated.

He accused Tinubu of isolating himself from both the people and potential allies.

“Your closed-door style of leadership, your apparent indifference to complaints of ethnic bias in appointments, and the perception that you frequently run the country from abroad… have created the image of an isolated leader heading an insular administration,” he wrote.

Baba-Ahmed also criticised the administration’s communication strategy, describing it as “a crowd of spokespersons who often confuse rather than clarify your policies.”

Reacting to the letter, Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga dismissed Baba-Ahmed’s criticisms, attributing his remarks to the timing of his recent resignation.

“President Tinubu is unfazed by the attacks of Baba-Ahmed and his co-travellers. We await his so-called revelations,” Onanuga said.

Meanwhile, Senator Ajibola Basiru, National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), defended the administration’s track record. Speaking on Channels Television, Basiru rated Tinubu’s government at 78 percent and highlighted key achievements including the launch of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and CreditCorp to expand consumer credit.

“We have stimulated agricultural production, which has contributed to a downward trend in food inflation. We have also addressed the shortage of funds for infrastructure development,” Basiru said, citing major projects such as the coastal highway and rail expansion.

Despite growing internal critiques, the Tinubu administration maintains that its reforms were on course, while political observers watch closely to see how the president will respond to rising calls for generational leadership change.