Why I Rejected Governors’ Request to Stop Obasanjo’s Second Term Bid, Atiku Reveals
- Alhaji Atiku Abubakar says he kicked against the call by PDP governors’ to scuttle the second term bid of former President Olusegun Obasanjo
- Atiku made this known at a National Executive Committee of the main opposition party in Abuja on Thursday, October 7
- According to the former vice president, the PDP National Executive Council had decided that power should remain in the southwest for eight years
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Abuja - The 2019 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has opened up on why he wasn't in support of the state governors’ call to frustrate the second term bid of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The former vice president on Thursday, October 7, said he rejected the suggestion for him to run against Obasanjo on the platform of the opposition in 2003, The Punch reports.
Source: Facebook
Atiku made his position known at the opening session of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja, Vanguard added.
Rather than agree to contest for the presidential ticket of the party back then, the politician referred the governors to the resolution of the National Executive Council of the PDP where they decided that power should remain in the southwest for eight years.
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He was quoted as saying:
“All the PDP governors and some members of the party met me at the Villa and said that they were not going to support [then] President Olusegun Obasanjo for a second term, that I should run.
“I now referred them to the resolution of NEC where NEC had decided that power should remain in the southwest for eight years.
“How do you want me to go against the resolution of NEC and I turned it down, and we moved on. So, this country has a sense of fairness."
Battle for presidency: Hopes dashed as court adjourns suit challenging Atiku’s eligibility
Earlier, a suit seeking to challenge Atiku’s eligibility to contest for Nigeria's highest political office was on Monday, September 27, adjourned.
According to Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, this is due to the inability of the parties in the suit to regularise their amended processes to accommodate the 5th defendant.
The judge in a ruling adjourned the matter until December 6 for further mention. It would be recalled that Incorporated Trustees of Egalitarian Mission for Africa (EMA) sued Atiku on the grounds that he was not a Nigerian citizen by birth.
2023: Atiku insists north should retain PDP presidential ticket
Meanwhile, the former vice president canvassed the retention of the zoning of the PDP presidential ticket in northern Nigeria.
According to him, there is no such thing as a president from southern Nigeria or a president from northern Nigeria, stressing that there is only one president; a president from Nigeria, for Nigeria and by Nigerians.
He cautioned that the position taken by NEC on the zoning controversy would determine the fate of the party in the 2023 election.
Source: Legit.ng
