Dele Momodu, publisher of Ovation Magazine and a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), says Nigerian politicians now treat zoning as the main qualification for winning presidential elections instead of focusing on governance issues affecting citizens.
Momodu spoke during an interview on ARISE News’ Prime Time programme on Tuesday.
According to him, political actors have deliberately shifted public discourse away from issues such as insecurity, electricity, and economic hardship to debates about regional power rotation.
“Zoning has suddenly become important because politicians now see it as the only credential required to win an election, especially the presidential election,” he said.
The media entrepreneur alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was relying heavily on the zoning narrative because it lacked a stronger electoral advantage.
“The APC and Tinubu know very well that if they don’t drum up the zoning issue, there is no clear path to victory for them,” he said.
Momodu described the ongoing debate over zoning as a distraction from more pressing national concerns.
“I’m not going to be boxed into this zoning brouhaha because I’ve realised that it is a deliberate distraction from the important issues that we should be discussing,” he said.
“There has been no other debate other than zoning. It’s a distraction.”
The former presidential aspirant also referenced comments previously made by Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso about the political realities surrounding Peter Obi in northern Nigeria.
According to Momodu, Kwankwaso had earlier argued that parts of the north might not support Obi politically.
He added that current political alliances and zoning calculations were largely strategic moves ahead of future elections.
“Peter Obi is targeting 2031 elections already,” he said.
“So the game has already started.”
Momodu further argued that Nigerian politics has increasingly become divided along regional lines instead of policy-based engagement.
“Instead of us now discussing we have no electricity, security is nil, and so on and so forth, all we’re now talking about is where a man comes from,” he said.
“I think it’s like someone has hypnotised us.”
