Agitation against the zoning arrangement of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gained momentum during the week as stakeholders in Osun and Lagos states staged rallies rejecting the formula and adopting Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, business leader and politician, as their preferred candidate.
In Osogbo, the rally was held at City Hall and led by Abass Olaniyi, the southwest coordinator of the Gbenga Hashim Solidarity Movement (GHSM).
The event featured former PDP state executives, including a past secretary, a woman leader, and grassroots mobilisers.
The participants argued that zoning has outlived its usefulness and should no longer dictate political choices in Nigeria.
“The era of division is over in Nigeria. What the country needs now is competence, capacity, and a unifier like Gbenga Hashim,” Olaniyi said.
In Lagos, another rally attracted PDP local government and senatorial officials, alongside former state executives.
The event, coordinated by Ola Azeez, Lagos GHSM coordinator, reinforced the rejection of zoning as a barrier to credible leadership.
“The era of division is over in Nigeria. This is a new era of competence and capability, and Gbenga Hashim stands tall as the symbol of that new vision,” Azeez said.
Both rallies signalled a coordinated pushback within the PDP’s south-west bloc against what participants described as “imposition tendencies” in the party’s national leadership.
In the past week, PDP stakeholders in Oyo and Ondo states also rejected zoning, with analysts warning that the resistance is triggering a major internal realignment in the party ahead of the next general elections.
The opposition to zoning has also spread beyond the south-west.
In the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the PDP chapter officially adopted Hashim as leader and candidate.
In Plateau state, stakeholders marched to the PDP secretariat to protest the headquarters’ decision on zoning.
In the north-west, particularly in Kano, PDP stakeholders have voiced opposition to zoning, insisting that the party cannot afford to sideline competence and broad-based acceptability.