• Olawepo-Hashim gets S’West backing as PDP zoning splits party
• Keyamo warns PDP against fielding Jonathan, Obi in 2027

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum has described the party as a pillar of Nigeria’s democracy as it marks its 27th anniversary.

In a statement, yesterday, by the Forum’s Chairman and Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, through its Director-General, Dr Emmanuel Agbo, the governors noted that the party’s tradition of rotating leadership between the North and South had been instrumental in promoting national unity and inclusiveness.

They stressed that the road ahead is just as crucial as the progress already made, adding that Nigerians expect the party to keep evolving, motivating, and providing leadership with integrity.

Meanwhile, leaders of the Gbenga Hashim Solidarity Movement (GHSM) in the South-West have declared support for the presidential aspiration of Dr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, vowing to resist unconstitutional zoning of the Presidency by the PDP.

The resolution was reached over the weekend, during a strategic meeting of GHSM leaders, comprising mostly PDP members from the South-West, held in Lagos, with delegates from Osun, Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo, Ogun, and Lagos states.

The South-West Coordinator of GHSM, Abass Olaniyi, from Osun State, while addressing journalists after the meeting, said Nigerians must rally behind leaders whose politics are built on competence, inclusiveness, and national development rather than sectional considerations.

He stressed that the South-West is resolute in its decision to deliver the region’s votes to ensure Hashim emerges victorious in 2027.

HOWEVER, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has warned that the PDP will face setbacks in its 2027 presidential strategy if it opts for former President Goodluck Jonathan or former Anambra governor, Peter Obi, as its standard-bearer.

In a post on his X account, yesterday, Keyamo said the opposition party remains in a “non-enviable position” after failing to zone its 2023 ticket to the South, a decision he said, cost the PDP not to get support in its traditional strongholds in the South-South and South-East.

Keyamo said that nominating Jonathan carries a constitutional danger tied to Section 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which he suggested could bar anyone sworn in twice as president from contesting again.