A presidential aspirant under the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mohammed Hayatudeen has rejected the discussions surrounding the zoning of the party’s 2027 presidential ticket.
Hayatudeen warned that the conversations around zoning are only drawing Nigerians’ attention away from the urgent challenges bedevilling the nation.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Political Paradigm programme, the economist said there is a need to refocus national discourse on issues of insecurity, economic collapse and the desperate need for job creation.
“Last week, 416 people were abducted and threatened with execution. What has that got to do with zoning? The thousands of our fellow citizens killed over the last three years, what has that got to do with zoning? The mother who cannot afford to buy food at the market, and the father who cannot send his child to school. What has any of that got to do with zoning?” Hayatudeen queried.
He also opined that Nigerians have suffered enough and are currently in dire need of credible leaders who are not defined by geography, but by character, competence and empathy.
“It doesn’t matter where you come from. What matters is that you have the capacity, the skill, the vision and the deep empathy to deliver for every single Nigerian,” Hayatudeen states.
Expressing concerns over the growing insecurity caused by decades of economic mismanagement, Hayatudeen said the root cause of the matter must be addressed.
He further dismissed suggestions that the current wave of insecurity is election-driven, insisting the data tells a different story.
“I am a numbers guy. I have compared the data with think tanks abroad and institutions within Nigeria. The evidence does not support that narrative,” he said.
On his aspiration to fly the ADC flag, Hayatudeen, who was also a presidential aspirant on the platform of PDP said the party’s constitution, manifesto and leadership align with his vision for Nigeria.
“Their leaders are forthright, tenacious and experienced. They have the determination to mobilise everything required to contest and win this election at all levels,” he said.
Also highlighting the party’s vision, Hayatudeen raised concern about what he described as the deliberate suffocation of Nigeria’s political space.
“What the government has done, through surrogates and the instruments of state, is to muzzle the political space, making it impossible for Nigerians to exercise genuine freedom of choice,” he warned.
