Anyim Blames PDP for Failing to Zone Presidency to South-East, Emphasizes Cross-Regional Alliances

Former Senate President Pius Anyim has absolved the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of any blame regarding the South-East’s inability to produce a Nigerian president since the return to democratic rule in 1999, pointing the finger instead at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Speaking during a television interview addressing the long-standing political agitation of the region, Anyim argued that the opposition party missed a historic opportunity to demonstrate equity when it threw its presidential ticket open rather than honoring zoning arrangements.

According to the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, a principled decision by the PDP to reserve its ticket for the South-East would have galvanized broad national sentiment and altered the nation’s political trajectory.

“If PDP had been honorable enough to zone to the South-East, it would have stimulated the necessary sentiments that will help us defeat any other candidate,” Anyim stated.

Having transitioned from the PDP to the ruling camp, Anyim reflected that his political experiences taught him that regional ambitions cannot be realized in isolation. He stressed that viable pathways to the presidency require deliberate bridge-building and functional alliances across Nigeria’s diverse geopolitical landscape.

“The experience I personally gathered is that no person from the South-East would make it in isolation. We must have an alliance with other regions in order to make it,” he noted.

Commenting on the current political framework leading up to the 2027 elections, Anyim maintained that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is constitutionally entitled to seek a second term. He proposed that following the completion of the South-West’s tenure and a subsequent rotation to the North, the presidency should naturally circle back to the South-East.