2027: Anyim Says South-East Needs Regional Alliances to Pursue Presidency

Former Senate President Pius Anyim Pius has said the South-East needs political alliances with other parts of Nigeria to strengthen its chances of producing the country’s president.

Speaking on Arise TV’s Prime Time on Monday, Anyim also said the All Progressives Congress (APC) should not be blamed for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s previous decisions not to zone its presidential ticket to the South-East.

Anyim argued that his political experience had shown him that a presidential candidate from the region could not rely solely on votes from the South-East to achieve the presidency.

He said the PDP’s failure to zone its ticket to the region in previous election cycles was a missed opportunity, but maintained that broader political cooperation would still be necessary for a South-East candidate to succeed.

“The experience I personally gathered is that no person from the South-East would make it in isolation. We must have an alliance with other regions in order to make it,” Anyim said.

The former Senate president said the need for such alliances was also a factor in his decision to leave the PDP and join the APC after spending about a year weighing his political options.

According to Anyim, political actors from the South-East should be prepared to support candidates from other regions when necessary in order to build relationships that could produce reciprocal support for the region in the future.

“But you need to support others so that they can support you,” he said.

On the current presidential zoning debate, Anyim said President Bola Tinubu, who is from the South-West, is entitled to seek a second term. He expressed his personal view that the presidency should subsequently rotate to the North and later return to the South-East.

Anyim also said the APC could expand its political presence in the South-East, despite the region’s existing political dynamics and the support enjoyed by other political figures. Arise News reported that he expressed confidence that the APC would make an impact in the region.

His comments come as political parties and regional blocs intensify discussions over alliances, zoning and support ahead of the 2027 general elections. The debate over how political power should rotate remains a matter of political strategy and competing positions among parties and politicians.