BREAKING: Zoning: ADC With All Efforts We Made and The Strength It Amassed Decided To Make Same Mistake — Umeh

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NDC Chieftain, Victor Umeh has described the decision by the National Democratic Congress to zone its presidential ticket to Southern Nigeria for a single term as a “profound” political move aimed at promoting balance, equity and electoral success ahead of the next general election.

Speaking during an interview on Channels Television on Sunday, May 10, 2026, the senator representing Anambra Central Senatorial District said the party’s decision reflected a recognition of Nigeria’s political realities and the need to maintain regional balance in presidential power rotation.

Responding to questions about the implications of the NDC’s zoning arrangement and comparisons with the African Democratic Congress, Umeh said the development underscored the importance of strategic political decisions in party administration.

He said, “Well, I think you are very right in describing it as very profound. So the word used in describing the decision made by NDC to zone the presidency to the southern part of Nigeria talks, explains it all. If something is profound, it means that it is good.”

Umeh stated that the NDC had “risen to the occasion” by taking what he described as a practical political decision capable of attracting wider support across the country: “One is that NDC was able to rise to the occasion by doing the needful. In politics, you must do what will make you succeed. You must be driven by a sense of balance, a sense of equity, something that will make people come to you.”

The senator also referenced the internal challenges faced by other political parties over zoning arrangements, particularly during the 2023 general election cycle: “Like you pointed out, ADC was not able to do zoning, and zoning was a problem that cost the PDP the election in 2023. So it is surprising that ADC, with all the efforts we made and the strength it amassed, decided to make the same mistake again.”

According to him, the decision to retain the presidency in Southern Nigeria after the eight-year administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari aligns with the principle of rotational leadership.

“NDC has risen to the occasion, and knowing that there is no way you can come and challenge the southern Nigeria in this election, where they are entitled to two terms in office, eight years, because Buhari did eight years in the last dispensation,” he said.

“When it shifted to the turn of the south, it became necessary that any right-thinking person should be able to take candidates from the southern part of Nigeria,” he added.

Umeh further recalled that similar debates emerged within the All Progressives Congress ahead of its 2023 presidential convention, when some northern politicians sought to contest for the party’s presidential ticket despite the prevailing arguments for power rotation.

“That was the mistake that APC avoided, because at the 2023 convention, there were elements in the APC that were insisting that anybody from the north can run again and succeed Buhari. That was why some of them contested at the convention to become the candidate of the APC,” he said.