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6 days ago
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September 11, 2025 by Toba Adedeji, Osogbo
•Stakeholders rally support for Gbenga-Hashim
Stakeholders in Lagos and Osun states’ PDP have staged a rally against the party’s zoning of the presidential ticket to South.
They said the zoning formula ahead of 2027 is “null and void”.
The protesters backed the party’s aspirant from the North, Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim.
In Osogbo, Osun State capital, the protesters met at the City Hall, with Southwest Coordinator of Gbenga Hashim Solidarity Movement, Alhaji Abass Olaniyi, leading the rally.
Other stakeholders, including a former PDP state secretary, a former Woman leader, and other grassroots mobilisers, participated in the rally.
The protesters argued that zoning has outlived its usefulness and should no longer dictate political choices in Nigeria.
“The era of division is over. What the country needs is competence, capacity, and a unifier like Olawepo-Hashim,” he said.
In Lagos, the rally attracted PDP council and senatorial officials, with former executives.
The march was coordinated by Lagos Coordinator of the movement, Ola Azeez, and reinforced rejection of zoning as a barrier to credible leadership.
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Azeez insisted the arrangement would not deter Olawepo-Hashim’s supporters from pursuing their cause.
“The era of division is over in Nigeria. This is a new era of competence and capability, and Olawepo-Hashim stands tall as symbol of that vision,” he said.
Both rallies signalled a coordinated pushback in PDP’s Southwest bloc against “imposition tendencies” in PDP national.
Separate statements from PDP stakeholders in Oyo and Ondo also rejected zoning.
The stakeholders have warned that the resistance was beginning to trigger a major internal realignment in the party ahead of the next general election.
The opposition to zoning has not been limited to the Southwest.
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