Nnamani: Why I dumped Atiku for Tinubu

The senator representing Enugu East, Chimaroke Nnamani, says he decided to align with the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, because the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) breached its constitution by subverting the principle of power rotation.

Nnamani, a former governor of Enugu State, said the PDP’s constitution prescribed that key political offices be rotated between the North and the South to ensure equity, justice, and fairness.

The former governor was recently suspended by the PDP over alleged anti-party activities.

The lawmaker, in a statement issued on Sunday, 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 as presidential candidate for 2023 election, the leadership jettisoned the constitutional provision and turned the logic upside down.

“Recalled that the PDP in 2019 allowed the North to contest the primaries for the presidency in Port Harcourt, Rivers State in which Atiku Abubakar clinched the ticket and contested the election.

“It was expected that in 2023, the PDP in a corresponding manner allows the South to contest for the plum position, but the party in its decision open the contest for both the Northern and Southern aspirants.

“In a twist of events and political maneuvering, Atiku Abubakar got the ticket again.

“The outcome of the presidential primaries infuriated southern PDP faithful including the G5 Governors who insist on respecting the North/South rotation principle,” Nnamani stated.

Nnamani added that the action of the PDP amounted to injustice and lack of equity, saying it was morally wrong to leave power in the North after President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure in 2023.

The former governor stated that Buhari, in recognition of the North and South power rotation, created a window for political balancing that enabled Tinubu to emerge as the APC presidential candidate.

“Having critically examined the situation, I found Bola Tinubu as the preferred candidate from the south to foot the bill in 2023,” the senator added.

The Star