Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has declared that he will not contest the 2027 presidential election, citing his support for zoning the presidency to the southern region of the country to allow the South complete eight years in power following President Bola Tinubu’s emergence in 2023.
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Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Thursday, Saraki was unequivocal in ruling himself out of the race while acknowledging that he still harbours presidential ambitions.
“No, I’m not running for president in 2027,” Saraki stated.
When pressed on whether he still has presidential ambitions, the former Senate President was candid.
“I do, I do, I would not lie if I say I don’t,” Saraki admitted. “But after the 2023 election, having Nigeria choose to elect President Bola Tinubu from the South, I think we felt that, look, it’s only fair to allow the South to complete eight years.”
He explained that his decision was guided by the PDP’s internal resolution on zoning following the 2023 election.
“So when the party met last year to discuss zoning, I supported the position that the presidency should be zoned to the South in 2027. To abide by that decision, I have ruled out contesting,” Saraki stated.
Saraki, who has previously sought the presidency on multiple occasions — including contesting the PDP primaries in 2023 where he lost to Atiku Abubakar, running in 2019, and briefly declaring interest in 2011 before stepping down for a consensus candidate — appeared to have accepted that 2027 would not be his year.
Addressing the broader question of power rotation, Saraki argued that historical trends actually show the South has held presidential power for fewer years than commonly assumed, while noting that the North has also had its share.
“If you do the mathematics, there are fewer years that the North has been in power than the South. The numbers support those who chose to run,” he said, explaining that the party’s current stance on zoning reflects post-election realities rather than historical grievances.
He recalled that in 2023, the PDP had adopted an open contest, which was why he supported Atiku Abubakar’s candidacy at the time despite the zoning debate.
Saraki pushed back forcefully against narratives suggesting the PDP is dead or irrelevant, arguing that the party’s perceived weakness is largely an Abuja-centric view driven by elite disagreements rather than grassroots reality.
“When you stay here in Abuja, you might say that because of the noise from leaders having disagreements. But when you go to the states and the grassroots, you’ll find that PDP is still very, very strong,” Saraki stated.
He described the PDP as a political brand that remains “very sellable” nationwide, insisting that what happens at the leadership level does not reflect the situation on the ground.
“What you hear at the top is different from what is happening on the ground,” the former Senate President said.
Using Kwara State as an example, he noted that feedback from stakeholders and grassroots members continues to show strong loyalty to the party.
Saraki acknowledged that internal missteps had contributed to the PDP’s current crisis. He revealed that he initially opposed the party’s national convention held in Ibadan in November 2025 but later allowed delegates from Kwara State to participate after receiving assurances that INEC would be present to ensure legitimacy.
However, INEC did not attend the convention, and Saraki stressed that the exercise ought to have been halted under such circumstances.
“The commission did not attend, and the exercise ought to have been halted,” Saraki stated, suggesting that proceeding without INEC’s presence was one of the key errors that led to the convention’s subsequent nullification by the courts.
Saraki dismissed rumours suggesting he was considering defection to the All Progressives Congress or any other political platform, reaffirming his commitment to the PDP.
He criticised the ruling party for what he described as a failure to uphold true multi-party democracy, suggesting that the APC’s dominance is being sustained not through superior governance but through the co-optation of opposition figures and the weakening of democratic institutions.
His reduced political visibility in recent months, Saraki explained, was a personal choice rather than a sign of disengagement from politics or the PDP.
In a notable clarification, Saraki stated that he holds no personal grudge against President Tinubu over the political challenges he faced during his tenure as Senate President from 2015 to 2019.
Saraki’s time as Senate President was marked by intense political battles with the APC leadership and the executive, including his dramatic defection from the APC to the PDP in 2018 and the attempt to impeach him from office.
His statement that he bears no personal animosity toward Tinubu suggests a willingness to engage with the current political dispensation on a pragmatic basis, even while remaining in the opposition.
Saraki also addressed the security situation in Kwara State, criticising the current administration for what he described as governance lapses that have allowed insecurity to worsen.
“I believe that, based on the period when I was governor, this situation was not like this. Most of those bandits have looked for places of least resistance and found Kwara available because the government took its eye off the ball,” Saraki stated.
He said his recent political engagements in Kwara were driven by concern for the welfare of residents rather than personal political ambition.
“It’s not that I want to win Kwara by all means. I’ve been closer to the people and I’ve seen the pain they’ve gone through. I’ve seen the mistakes that have been made, and the fact that they haven’t got the kind of government they expected, including the hardship and insecurity,” the former governor said.
He framed his involvement as a responsibility of political leadership, adding: “As a responsible leader, I hold it as my responsibility to do my best to ensure they have the best type of governance, which I believe the PDP, through our candidates, can provide.”
Saraki’s decision to step aside narrows the field of potential PDP presidential candidates and reinforces the party’s zoning of the presidency to the South. His support for the zoning arrangement could strengthen the hand of southern PDP aspirants while reducing the likelihood of a northern challenge from within the party.
However, with the PDP still embroiled in its leadership crisis between the Wike and Turaki factions, the question of who emerges as the party’s presidential candidate — and whether the party will be in a position to field a credible candidate at all — remains uncertain.
Saraki’s insistence that the PDP remains strong at the grassroots, combined with his refusal to defect, suggests he intends to play a significant behind-the-scenes role in shaping the party’s direction for 2027, even if he will not be on the ballot himself.
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