Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed encouraged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday to select a Southern Christian as its presidential candidate in 2027.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, Mohammed said that a southern candidate would assist the PDP in avoiding the scandal that plagued the All Progressives Congress in 2023.
He stated that when deciding on a ticket, the PDP must consider Nigeria’s religious and regional diversity.
Mohammed stated, “What I want to say is we have not absolutely chosen or narrowed down on any person. Everybody should know that PDP is open.
“It’s open in a manner that it is for the southerners to bring somebody, and I said with all humility, we don’t want to make the mistake of the APC,” he said.
“We need a Christian from the South to emerge as a presidential candidate so that he will lead the majority of Christian southerners to come and pick the majority Muslim vice president in the North, not to put ourselves in a cul-de-sac the way the APC did in 2023, where they picked a minority from the South, and they had to take a majority person from the North, which brought the issue of the Muslim-Muslim, which did not take into cognisance our diversity and our different people’s feelings because we have not really reached a stage where we don’t take consideration of all these factors,” he added.
He claimed that to reflect Nigeria’s variety and avoid the controversy of a Muslim-Muslim ticket, the party should propose a Christian from the South as its presidential candidate, with a Muslim from the North as running mate.
Speaking on speculation about the possibility of him running alongside Governor Seyi Makinde, the Bauchi governor denied he was stepping down or engineering a ticket pairing with other southern figures.
“A Seyi Makinde–Bala Mohammed ticket can even match better.
“What Nigerians need is capacity and pedigree, which Seyi and I have demonstrated at the subnational level. But beyond us, there are several credible options within the PDP. What matters is that the party remains open and inclusive,” he said.
Mohammed also stated that the PDP would not repeat what he described as the ruling APC’s “mistake” in 2023, stressing that zoning and religious balancing must guide the party’s choice of candidates.
“Everybody should know that PDP is open, and it’s open in a manner that it is for the southerner to bring somebody,” Mohammed said.
“We don’t want to make the mistake of the APC. We need a Christian from the South to emerge as a presidential candidate so that he will lead the majority of Christian southerners to come and pick the majority Muslim vice president in the North, not to put ourselves in a cul-de-sac the way APC did in 2023.”
Mohammed argued that the APC’s decision to run a Muslim-Muslim ticket “did not take into cognisance our diversity.”
Speaking on the possibility of a Makinde/Mohammed ticket to match President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima in 2027, the governor said it could “match even better”.
“It depends on what Nigerians want. If they want the continuation of this clueless administration, then it is the choice of Nigerians,” he said.
“But certainly, they have seen the pedigree and capacity of Seyi and my humble self at the subnational level. And of course, it is not only Seyi that is there—there are so many people that may even come up and so many people that can be good vice presidents.”
Mohammed emphasised that the PDP has “so many options in terms of pairing”, adding that whoever emerged as the presidential candidate of the party would get his support.
