Despite the clamour for President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor to emerge from the South, former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has intensified his effort to pick the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), meeting on Tuesday with members of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) and firing a warning that the former ruling party may die if it fails to win next year’s general election.
In a meeting lasting several hours behind closed doors at the Yar’Adua Center in Abuja, the presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2019 exercise sought the buy-in of the party elders for his ambition, telling them that he represents the best chance for the PDP to return to power.
He, therefore, urged them to give him another opportunity to advance what he called his ideas for uniting the country.
Before the meeting went into the closed session, Atiku expressed concern that if the PDP does not win the 2023 election, it will remain in opposition for another eight years and might even become extinct as he observed that Nigerians usually gravitate towards power.
He said: “As one of the speakers said, I am worried and you should be worried too that if we do not win, it means we will be in opposition again for the next eight years. By the next eight years, I don’t know how many were left in politics and it may even ultimately lead to the death of the party because people gravitate, particularly in developing countries, towards governments.
“Ordinary people naturally gravitate towards the government. So, this is a very, very crucial and historical moment in history, for our survival. I want you to think about it.”
The former vice president debunked assertions that the PDP is shying away from its zoning principle, noting that it was because of the implementation of the policy that the South has enjoyed more years in power than the North under the former ruling party.
According to him, he believes in building bridges, which he said, informed his decision to choose southeastern politicians as his presidential running mates on two occasions.
Atiku also reiterated his decision to snub All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain and former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, when he requested to be made his running mate in the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
He stated: “Yes, people have not stopped talking about power rotation and zoning, or whatever it is. For sure in the party, we invented and formulated this zoning policy simply because we wanted every part of this country to have a sense of belonging and I personally have paid my dues on the issue of zoning.
“Many of you were members of our government when all the PDP governors came in 2003 and said I should run and I
said no. We have agreed that power should remain in the Southwest. Why should I? Some of those governors that support me, some of them went to jail, some of them were kicked out of their offices. We made sure that we kept policy.
“So, therefore, you cannot come and try to imply that the PDP has not been following the zoning policy. The many years of PDP government eight years and six years, all of them were from the south. So, we should not be stampeded by the opposition party. They have a moral obligation that is inescapable.
“My vision is building bridges across the country. Please join me in building bridges across this country so that every part of this country will have a sense of belonging.
“Some say he said you have not been given the chance. When I joined the ACN which my friend Bola was setting up, he gave me a set of conditions for giving me the ticket that I should make him vice president. I said no, I’m not going to make you Vice President. Instead, I took Senator Ben (Obi).
“When I got the ticket again to run, I took another Obi coincidentally. So, there is absolutely no reason why they should say that there is a deliberate attempt to exclude the South East in political participation or power-sharing.
“So I thought I should disabuse your mind and of course, as an enlightened political class, I don’t think that for me, as far as this party is concerned, as far as we’re concerned. I don’t think there’s any deliberate policy to exclude anybody in this country.
“I now wish to call on you to please give me another opportunity to advance all these ideas of our party, well beautiful ideas so that we will come further to consolidate democracy, unity and development for our country.”
While noting that the PDP is the oldest party in the country, he said no other administration has matched its record of performance in office.
He praised members of the PDP BoT for being actors in the progress recorded by the country under the PDP administrations.
Atiku further stated: “Distinguished ladies and gentlemen. it’s my pleasure today this morning to warmly welcome you to the Yar’adua centre. Honestly, I had a sense of nostalgia this morning, because some of us had a political and personal relationship that has predated the formation of PDP. And very many of you are founding members of our party.
“I want to welcome you very warmly. I want to appreciate the time you have taken to come all the way from your respective destinations for this meeting.
“Our party today happens to be the oldest political party since the creation of this country, starting from the first of October 1960. And before that, no political party has existed as long as twenty years for as long as the PDP, whatever may be the outcome, left a legacy, political history in this country and you are a part of that legacy.
“Very many of you were part of our political successes in 1998 – 99 and also, many of you were part of the success story of government, PDP government 1999 to 2007.
“Today, no administration since then had made as much achievement as our administration.
“Therefore, you are not only the fathers of our great party, but you are also the bedrock of those achievements.
“What I’m saying is based on facts. Take any aspect of our growth, whether it is economy, whether it is healthcare, whether it is agriculture, whether it is education, the landmark achievements we made in 1999 to 2007 have not been matched by any subsequent administration.
“Your excellences, friends, brothers and sisters, we are now at a crucial moment in this country. For many of you here, it is either we retire together or we move on together.
“Somebody said that we recorded 12 million votes during the last election. Those are not only my votes, those were our votes. In achieving or recording those 11 million votes, it was all of us and I believe if we work together again, we can surpass those votes.”
Meanwhile, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, who has been spearheading the move by Atiku to clinch the PDP ticket, has raised alarm over a plot by a section of the party to exclude, from the 2023 race, politicians who previously defected from the PDP.
The move may affect Atiku who has twice decamped from the PDP to other political parties.
A decision on the proposal may be taken Wednesday as the party’s organs meet to deliberate on and approve its election guidelines and timetable.
The chairman emeritus of DAAR Communications raised the fear while speaking at the meeting with the BoT.
He argued that if adopted, the measure will divide the PDP.
Dokpesi pointed out that of all the people who have signified their intention to become the PDP presidential candidate, none has the qualities of the former vice president.
Dokpesi said: “The journey to the context of 2023 will possibly start from tomorrow when you will, collectively be approving the guidelines of the parties or timetable.
“You have already seen what will befall us if we do not start on what the founding Fathers believed, in the one united indivisible Federal Republic of Nigeria, we would have sown the seeds of the disintegration of this country.
“Sentiments and emotions have been brought in by various interest groups, possibly in politics. It is for you, as fathers and mothers of this party, to defend what the vision should be, and descend from what the agitations from certain and all quarters appear to be.
“We have seen the list of candidates that have shown interest in the various parts of the country but there’s no that has his credentials, his experience, his capacity and acceptance internationally and nationally.
“The Electoral Act talks of consensus but how do you go into compelling every people to surrender their ambition? We must win the 2023 elections in this party and for future generations. What we are asking for is a level playing field.
“But the information reaching me now is not very palatable. This stage of attempting to divide this party. The information available includes that such persons who left the party, who are founding members of the party, will not be allowed.”
