In a candid and revealing interview on Arise TV, Professor Jerry Gana, a founding father of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), offered a rare admission of the party’s past strategic blunders, pinpointing the 2011 breach of the zoning agreement as a critical error that led to the PDP’s loss of power in 2015.
Gana, a long-standing party stalwart and influential political voice, spoke openly about the consequences of abandoning the party’s internal rotational power pact.
“In 2011 we made a mistake—Jonathan’s reelection broke our zoning pact and cost PDP dearly in 2015,” Gana said, emphasizing that the decision created deep fractures within the party and alienated key regional blocs, particularly in the North.
Recounting his role at the time, Gana said, “I was chairman of the national convention of the party in 2014 when a few people—about seven of them, including five governors—were so pressed to go out of the convention.
Although we were willing to yield all the grounds—whatever the contest was, whatever the arguments were—I think we made a mistake.” His reflection provides rare insight into the internal battles that plagued the PDP during a critical political juncture.
The zoning controversy stemmed from President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to seek reelection in 2011 after completing the term of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
Though constitutionally permitted, his candidacy was viewed by many in the North as a violation of the party’s rotational agreement, which had informally assured power would return to the North after Yar’Adua’s passing.
The result was a major crack in party unity, culminating in the defection of several governors and senior stakeholders.
Gana’s remarks are significant not only for their historical value but also for their relevance to the PDP’s 2027 strategy. He stressed the need for the party to return to its founding principles—discipline, internal democracy, and equity—if it is to regain national confidence.
His message serves as both an apology to the party’s base and a call for reconciliation and reform.
With renewed focus on unity and grassroots mobilization, Gana believes the PDP can correct its past mistakes and reclaim leadership in the upcoming elections.
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