Chimaroke Nnamani, a former governor of Enugu State, has provided an explanation behind throwing his support behind Bola Tinubu’s bid for the presidency in the 2023 general election.
Nnamani claimed that the Peoples Democratic Party violated its own constitution by denying the South the chance to run for president.
According to the former governor, the PDP constitution mandates that important political positions be cycled between the North and South to achieve equity, justice, and fairness.
The PDP had a week ago suspended Nnamani alongside other leaders of the party in the states of Ekiti and Imo due to alleged anti-party conduct.
But in a statement on Sunday, the Enugu State lawmaker said, “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.
“Even when the PDP National Chairman Iyorchia Ayu made a firm commitment to step down should a northerner emerge the presidential candidate for the 2023 elections, the leadership jettisoned the constitutional provision and turned the logic upside down.”
He recalled that the PDP in 2019 allowed the North to contest the primary for the presidency in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in which Atiku Abubakar clinched the ticket and contested the election.
Speaking further, he said it was expected that in 2023, the PDP in a corresponding manner would allow the South to contest for the apex position.
According to Nnamani, in a twist of events and alleged political manoeuvering, Atiku got the ticket again.
He said the outcome of the presidential primary infuriated southern PDP faithful including the G-5 governors who insisted on respecting the North-South rotation principle.
“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 the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)’s tenure in 2023,” Nnamni said.
He claimed that President Buhari in recognition of the North-South power rotation, created a window for political balancing that enabled Bola Tinubu to emerge as the presidential candidate.
“Having critically examined the situation, I found Tinubu as the preferred candidate from the South to foot the bill in 2023, saying that there is need for political harmony in a manner that gives all parts of Nigeria a sense of belonging,” Nnamani said.
