The Joint Action Committee of Northern Youth Associations (JACON) has condemned the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) decision to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South, calling the move unjust, undemocratic and a betrayal of the region’s longstanding support for the party.
Speaking at a press conference in Kaduna on Tuesday, JACON warned that the PDP risked “grave consequences” in the next general elections if it proceeded with the zoning arrangement.
The group argued that while the North has consistently delivered votes that kept the PDP in power for much of Nigeria’s democratic era, it has only held the presidency for two and a half years—compared to more than thirteen years under Southern leaders during the party’s 16 years in office.
“It is an undeniable historical fact that the North was shortchanged during PDP’s years in power,” JACON said. “To now zone the ticket back to the South in 2027 is a deliberate attempt to permanently sideline the region.”
The coalition insisted that fairness demands the PDP return its ticket to the North, vowing to mobilize its affiliates to resist what it described as a pattern of political marginalization.
“The North can no longer be the political beast of burden for a party that only uses its votes but denies it leadership,” the statement added.
JACON said it would convene an emergency meeting of all affiliate groups to chart a “comprehensive strategy” against the PDP’s decision. It also urged Northern political, traditional and religious leaders to resist what it termed a “brazen act of exclusion,” declaring that “the time for silent acquiescence is over.”
The statement was signed by Ambassador Sanin Yaya, JACON’s Director of Media and Public Affairs.
