Former Governor of Enugu state, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, has justified his preference for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, for 2023.
He said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) breached its own constitution and denied the south the opportunity to run for presidency, hence his preference for Tinubu.
The PDP constitution prescribed that key political offices be rotated between the North and the South to ensure equity, justice and fairness.
Conscious of the need to share and rotate key political offices among the diverse people of our country, the PDP constitution clearly stated that it shall adhere at all times to the policy of the rotation and zoning of the party and public elective offices in pursuance of the principle of equity, justice and fairness, he said.
Even when the PDP national Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, made a firm commitment to step down should a northerner emerge presidential candidate for 2023 election, the leadership jettisoned the constitutional provision and turned the logic upside down.
Recall that the PDP in 2019 allowed the North to contest the primaries for the presidency in Port Harcourt , Rivers State in which Atiku Abubakar clinched the ticket and contested the election.
It was expected that in 2023, the PDP in a corresponding manner allows the South to contest for the plum position, but the party in its decision open the contest for both the Northern and Southern aspirants.
In a twist of events and political maneuvering, Atiku Abubakar got the ticket again.
The outcome of the presidential primaries infuriated southern PDP faithful, including the G.5 Governors who insists on respecting the North/South rotation principle .
Senator Nnamani said the action of the PDP amounted to injustice and lack of equity maintaining that it is morally wrong to leave power in the north after President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure in 2023.
The former Governor noted that President Buhari in recognition of the North/South power rotation created a window for political balancing that enabled Ahmed Bola Tinubu to emerge as presidential candidate.
He said “having critically examined the situation, I found Ahmed Bola Tinubu as the preferred candidate from the south to foot the bill in 2023.”
He said there is need for political harmony in a manner that gives all parts of Nigeria a sense of belonging.
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