Agoro: Atiku’s Northern Origin Sparked G5 Governors’ Rebellion Against PDP

Former federal lawmaker Lanre Agoro has shed new light on the internal rift that weakened the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2023 general elections, attributing the division to the party’s failure to honor the principle of rotational presidency.

In an appearance on the Edmund Obilo Podcast, Agoro—who represented Oyo State’s Orelope-Irepo-Olorunsogo Federal Constituency between 2007 and 2011—explained that the controversy erupted when the PDP selected former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, a northerner, as its presidential candidate following President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year tenure, also as a northerner.

“Atiku, you are also from the North, you cannot succeed a northerner. And that was why five governors from the South and Middle Belt came together. They said no, you cannot,” Agoro said during the interview.

According to him, the opposition by the G5 governors—powerful figures from both the South and Middle Belt—was rooted in the need to uphold fairness and unity in Nigeria’s political system. These governors believed that for the sake of national balance, the presidency should have shifted to the South.

Their disapproval led to a significant split within the PDP, as the G5 distanced themselves from the party’s presidential campaign. That internal rebellion, Agoro noted, played a major role in the PDP’s lackluster performance at the polls.

His remarks have revived discussions around the importance of zoning and rotational presidency in Nigeria’s political structure, highlighting how failure to respect such unwritten power-sharing agreements can deeply fracture party cohesion and hurt electoral outcomes.