Why I dumped Atiku for Tinubu – Sen Nnamani

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senator Chimaroke Nnamani on Sunday, stated why he preferred the presidential standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Nnamani said his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) breached the North-South power rotation principle provided for in its constitution by fielding Alhaji Abubakar Atiku as its presidential candidate for the February 25 poll.

Explaining why he dumped his party’s candidate, the senator representing Enugu East District, flayed the leadership of the main opposition party for denying the South its presidential ticket.

He gave the reasons for dumping Atiku in a statement he personally signed on Sunday.

Nnamani, who is seeking to retain seat on the PDP platform, was on January 20 suspended by the PDP for alleged anti-party activities.

He said: “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.

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“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.”

In 2019, the lawmaker recalled, the PDP allowed only the North to contest the presidential primary in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where Atiku clinched the ticket and contested the election.

The statement reads: “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, opened the contest for both the Northern and Southern aspirants.

“In a twist of events and political maneuvering, Atiku Abubakar got the ticket again for the 2023 race.”

The senator said the outcome of the last presidential primary infuriated Southern PDP faithful, including the G-5 Governors who have continued to insist on the need for the PDP to respect the North-South rotation principle.

According to him, the action of the PDP smacked of injustice and lack of equity, stressing that it is morally wrong for the North to retain power after President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure in 2023.

Nnamani, who was Enugu State governor from 1991 to 2007, noted that President Mohammadu Buhari, in recognition of the North-South power rotation, created a window for political balancing that paved the way for Tinubu’s emergence as the APC candidate.

“Having critically examined the situation, I found Ahmed Bola Tinubu as the preferred candidate from the South to fit the bill in 2023. There is need for political harmony in a manner that gives all parts of Nigeria a sense of belonging”, Nnamani said.