Former President Goodluck Jonathan has appealed to members of Peoples Democratic Party in South-East Nigeria to support the choice of former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi as the running mate of the party’s presidential candidate for 2019 elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
The former President issued the statement in response to disapproval by some governors elected on the platform of PDP in the Southeast of the choice of Mr Obi as the running mate to the candidate of PDP in the 2019 presidential election.
The leadership of the party in the zone had, after the announcement of Obi, summoned an emergency meeting in Enugu.
Obi, a former Governor of Anambra, was picked by PDP Presidential flagbearer Atiku Abubakar for the 2019 race.
The meeting was held at the Independence Layout residence of the Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu and attended by all PDP governors in the zone, some members of the National Assembly from the zone, zonal leaders and others.
Addressing newsmen after the meeting, Gov. Dave Umahi of Ebonyi said that the leadership of the party was not aware of the choice of Obi as running mate as it was not consulted.
Umahi said that they only heard the appointment on social media and expected that they would be carried along prior to the announcement.
The governor said that the leadership still expected that the candidate of the party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar would visit to inform them about the choice he made.
But in obvious reaction to the statement, President Jonathan, in a statement issued on Sunday evening, appealed for calm and understanding, while arguing that Atiku should be given the free hand to choose his running mate.
“I therefore want to directly appeal to my brothers and sisters from the South East zone who are members of our party to reconsider their position and allow the presidential candidate of our party to select a candidate he thinks he can work with to be able to achieve the party’s development goals. Since Atiku has nominated Mr. Peter Obi as his running mate, I am pleading with my party members from the zone to accept his choice,” Jonathan said in the statement.
See the full statement below
“I thank members of our great party for the successful conduct of the primaries for the various elective positions ahead of the 2019 general elections. By holding transparent, peaceful and rancor-free convention and primaries across the country, our party has once more, taken the nation’s democratic exercise a notch higher, in line with our well-established tradition of deepening the growth of democracy in our
nation.
“I again congratulate all our candidates for various positions, including Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who was overwhelmingly elected by our delegates as the flag bearer of our party in the 2019 presidential election. The popularity and positive reviews of the exercise across the country is a clear demonstration of national endorsement for the choices we made, going into the 2019 elections.
“The task before us is to build on this firm foundation and momentum by pulling in one direction and working assiduously for the victory of these candidates at the polls.
It is against this backdrop that I appeal for calm and understanding in the South East where my attention has been drawn to the fact that some leaders of our party are openly expressing their discomfort with the reported nomination of former Governor of Anambra State Peter Obi as Atiku’s running mate. I am told that some of our leaders in the zone have raised issues with the process of consultation that produced the Vice Presidential candidate.
“I affirm that consultation is a key ingredient in every political process. Nonetheless, in the selection of a vice presidential candidate, a presidential candidate is allowed reasonable freedom to select his running mate based on loyalty, trust, experience, temperament and capacity to perform the responsibilities of the office. Anything other than this could create tension and acrimony between the presidential candidate and his running mate, even before the inauguration of the government.
My plea is for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to be given a free hand to choose who he wants to work with as his Vice President without putting him through undue pressure. In this regard, only minimal consultation is required which doesn’t necessarily have to involve full regional review and approval.
“We have to be careful not to give the impression that the process of selecting a Vice Presidential candidate cannot progress until a regional stamp of approval is formally procured. The system we are used to right from the First Republic is one that places the choice of a running mate at the behest of the candidate, based on his own convictions on capacity and compatibility.
“From my political history beginning from Deputy Governor to President, I can say that this is the tradition and standard practice in countries where either the President and his Vice or Governor and his Deputy contest election on a common slate. In such instance, once a candidate emerges, he or she is given a free hand to select the person who understands his vision and plans for the country, as his running mate.
I therefore want to directly appeal to my brothers and sisters from the South East zone who are members of our party to reconsider their position and allow the presidential candidate of our party to select a candidate he thinks he can work with to be able to achieve the party’s development goals. Since Atiku has nominated Mr. Peter Obi as his running mate, I am pleading with my party members from the zone to accept his choice.”