Following the meeting with Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress, APC presidential candidate former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said it’s the time for power to shift to the south.
Speaking after the meeting with the APC flagbearer, the former leader said it was wrong for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to give its presidential ticket to Atiku Abubakar, a northerner.
Atiku, a former vice president under Obasanjo’s presidency had emerged the winner in the shadow presidential primary held in June after defeating Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state.
The rancorous PDP primary has since polarized the party, as its elders are still trying to bridge the gulf between Atiku and Wike’s supporters who appear dissatisfied with the outcome of the election.
No one can tell yet whether Obasanjo’s comment meant he’s now supporting Tinubu’s presidential bid, but the former president has recently made a veiled attack against the PDP presidential candidate by saying he regretted picking him as his vice president in 1999.
“One of the mistakes I made was picking my Number Two when I wanted to become the president. But because it was a genuine mistake, God saved me,” the former president said of Atiku.
On the other hand, the former president and the APC flagbearer are considered political rivals, and both have shaded themselves on several occasions. Therefore, political watchers are still trying to figure out whether they will try to form an alliance against Atiku ahead next year’s presidential election.
Speaking in Abeokuta, Obasanjo said he was disappointed that PDP still went to pick Atiku as its torch bearer despite a provision in the party’s constitution that power should rotate between the North and south.
The incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari’s is from the North and his tenure will end next year after which a southerner is expected to take power. But PDP has breached the law, according to Obasanjo, who said the party’s decision is not politically correct and is against the spirit of the understanding between Northern and Southern Nigeria.
Obasanjo said, “I am very much aware that it’s the turn of the South to produce the next President of Nigeria. I was part of the meeting when the agreement was made between Northern and Southern leaders,” he said.
“I am even surprised PDP gave her ticket to another Northern candidate.
“It will be an injustice to the South if the North retains power after eight years of rule. We will do the right thing when the time comes.”
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