Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Pan-Niger Delta Forum have chided the Peoples Democratic Party for producing former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate in the coming presidential election in 2023.
Speaking on Atiku’s candidacy, Ohanaeze spokesman, Dr Alex Ogbonnia, said the PDP deliberately produced Atiku out of conspiracy against the South-East.
Ogbonnia said that the North through the instrumentality of the National Assembly had finally skewed the presidency to itself with the imbalance in the local government creation.
He said, “Ohanaeze is not happy about the conspiracy against the South and South-East in particular. Southern people that are struggling for the presidency they will not get especially when they can’t read the handwriting on the wall.
“You know the North has conspired against the South and the South should understand it. Instead of all the South-South and South-West giving validity and support to the South-East, they have been very busy struggling for it, therefore disarticulating themselves. So, where the North is united, the South is disarticulated.”
On its part, the Pan-Niger Delta Forum alleged that the Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, of being dubious with the manner at which he withdrew from the race.
PANDEF National Publicity Secretary, Ken Robinson, in a statement over the development said, “The outcome of the presidential primary of the Peoples Democratic Party was predetermined.
“We knew long ago that this was what it would be. That is why they violated their zoning principle and left the party’s presidential ticket open.
“The southern aspirants, particularly, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, we would think had justifiable reasons not to have joined the “programmed” winner on the stage while he was giving his acceptance speech.
“Though the conduct of the primary election in terms of the accreditation of delegates, voting and counting of votes was transparent, orderly and unquestionable, the way and manner Governor Aminu Tambuwal was allowed to announce his withdrawal and support for the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, was, to, say the least, dubious and most unfair.
“Why was Tambuwal allowed to do that after all aspirants had made their speeches and voting was about to commence?
“It is also essential to note that the exercise was rigged ab initio; there was no level playing ground.
“The scale was skewed; they had one delegate from each of the 774 local government areas of the country, and of course, we know there are more local government areas in the North than the South, and given the swerving undercurrents of politics, the former Vice President was guaranteed to win the primary election.
“It is these situations that informed our insistence on the zoning of the presidential ticket for fairness, equity and balance.”
