Ismail Omipidan and Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders in the South-East appears enraged over the manner a former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, emerged as the party’s vice presidential candidate for the 2019 general elections.
But their anger is not directed towards Obi. They appear angry with those they claim connived with some persons who are not from the zone to take the critical decision. They see the action as a deliberate attempt to spite them and to set them against their son, Obi.
The Beginning
The PDP presidential candidate, Abubakar Atiku named Obi as his running mate penultimate weekend, bringing an end to speculations as to who will pair with him on the PDP’s ticket.
In the aftermath of his emergence as PDP presidential candidate, the former vice president was said to have embarked on a search for a suitable running mate for the 2019 poll.
Daily Sun gathered that in the search for a vice presidential candidate, some of those considered for the position included former minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo -Iweala; Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu; former minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka; PDP National Organising Secretary, Col Austin Akonbundu (retd), as well as Obi. But he was said to have settled for Obi.
The former Anambra governor’s nomination elicited so much joy in the polity with several persons hailing his choice as a political masterstroke.
Why Atiku settled for Obi
Giving an insight into the nomination of the former Anambra State governor as the PDP vice presidential candidate, former minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Dubem Onyia told Daily Sun that several other persons were considered before Atiku settled for Obi as his running mate.
Onyia, who is a close associate of the PDP presidential candidate, said Obi was found most suitable because of his pedigree and antecedents. Besides, the former minister said the Atiku team wanted somebody who can bring value to the presidential ticket.
According to him, “there were a bunch of them. Qualified, credible candidates for the vice president, just like we have aspirants before Atiku was elected by the delegates. We micro-zoned it to the South-East. Out of those that were qualified, we found him most suitable, because he has all the credentials to move the team forward.”
He added: “Remember that this time around, like Atiku is promising, the essence is to create jobs, apart from restructuring Nigeria. And for you to create jobs, you must bring a business man. Atiku is an entrepreneur. Obi is an entrepreneur. They are employers of labour. Both of them join together will move the country’s economy forward. The essence is to increase disposable income. The essence is to get Nigeria working again. This will give you an insight of what the cabinet will look like when Atiku wins the election,” he said.
Onyia, further said that “Peter Obi did very well as governor of Anambra State. He is an economist. He is well qualified. He is a successful business man. Therefore, he qualifies to head the economic team. He complements Atiku. We are not disappointed with it. We wanted somebody that will bring value to the team. And he has a lot of value to bring to the team. It is a welcome development. He is a party man. He did very well as governor of Anambra for eight years. He has no blemish at all. And he left a lot of money behind, after achieving so much in Anambra State. He has a lot to bring to the team.”
Similarly, the former minister of Transport, Chief Ebenezer Babatope hailed the nomination, stating that Obi is a politician without blemish. He said his choice would gladden the heart of several Nigerians.
“Peter Obi is a gentle man. He is a total administrator. He is a politician without blemish. I worked with Peter Obi, alongside others in the 2015 general elections. And I discovered that the gentleman was a refined man, who places merit above other matters.
“The choice of Peter Obi is going to gladden the heart of many people. When he was governor, he turned Anambra State to a paradise on earth. I am sure that as vice President to Atiku Abubakar, two of them will save Nigerian economy, save Nigerian people,” Babatope told Daily Sun.
The opposition to Obi’s nomination
However, while Nigerians across board were celebrating Obi’s emergence as Atiku’s running mate, PDP governors in the South-East, led by Ebonyi State governor, Dave Umahi and other leaders of the party in the zone are incensed, not necessarily by his choice, but over the manner he emerged. Umahi said the leaders of the South-East were not consulted before Obi was announced as the PDP vice presidential candidate in 2019.
The South-East PDP leaders were to later converge on Enugu penultimate Saturday to deliberate on the issue. The meeting was attended by Umahi, Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and Okezie Ikpeazu of Enugu and Abia States respectively, the Deputy Senate President and other leaders of the opposition party in the zone.
At the end of the emergency meeting which reportedly held at the Enugu residence of the Deputy Senate President, Governor Umahi reiterated his earlier position that leaders of the zone were not consulted. However, he said they will keep their gun powder dry until, they have met with Atiku.
“We saw news flying up and down saying that our presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has picked a running mate from the zone. We were shocked because we were not consulted. While we were meeting, Atiku sent message that he travelled out of the country for a short period. He promised to come down and meet with South-east leaders.” he stated.
Obaze defends Obi’s nomination
Regardless, the PDP governorship candidate in Anambra State in the last election, Oseloka Obaze, who is Obi’s associate and who was also in Enugu but could not attend the meeting, said it was unusual for leaders of a geo-political zone to insist that they must be consulted before their son is chosen as a running mate to a presidential candidate.
Obaze recalled that “in 1979, Shehu Shagari did not consult South-east NPN before choosing Alex Ekwueme as his running mate. Indeed, Ekwueme who was then resident in London had been introduced to Shehu Shagari by the late Sir Joe Nwankwu.
“In 1999, Olusegun Obasanjo did not consult the North-East PDP leaders before he selected Atiku Abubakar. Indeed, Atiku having won the gubernatorial election in his state was driving to Adamawa on the fateful day when he got a call to return to Abuja to meet Obasanjo and become his running mate. In 2007, Umaru Yar’Adua did not consult the South-south PDP leadership before picking Goodluck Jonathan. Rather, after Peter Odili was blocked as presidential candidate, it was James Ibori that Yar’Adua wanted as his running mate. It was the trio of Ahmadu Ali, Olusegun Obasanjo and Tony Anenih who decided, without any consultations with the region on Jonathan in order to block some PDP governors who were scheming to nominate another person after the rejection of Peter Odili as presidential candidate.”
The former governorship candidate expressed worry that by their opposition to Obi’s nomination, some leaders of the zone are toying with an opportunity to mainstream the Igbo nation into the politics of the country after many years.
“Are we to understand that after we have waited for 35 years to get a VP slot on a PDP ticket that is a winning combination, we are about to waste it on account of our not being consulted zonally? Would we rather the VP slot go elsewhere and wait another 35 years? How do we explain our malign attitude and that outsiders have accepted one of our sons, but we are the ones that seek to tag him ‘an outcast’ and therefore unacceptable to the nation? “, he queried.
Obaze’s position countered
But sources familiar with the circumstances that threw up Atiku, first as the presidential candidate, and Obi as the running mate, are of the view that Obaze and others castigating the position of the governors and the leaders from the zone over the manner Obi emerged are either ignorant of the undercurrents or are deliberately been mischievous.
Puncturing Obaze’s position, one of the leaders of the party said “I was a governorship candidate in 1999. So I am familiar at least with what happened then. Northern leaders were consulted before Obasanjo picked Atiku. Don’t forget, some persons were pushing late Rimi’s candidacy too. As a matter of fact, Kyari, who is Buhari’s Chief of Staff of today, was one of those Obasanjo wanted, but some northern leaders advised him against the choice.
“In 1979, Obaze himself admitted that Ekwueme was introduced to Shagari by another Igbo son. So which Igbo son introduced Obi to Atiku? Which Igbo son was at the meeting where the decision to pick Obi was taken? Again, in 2007, a South-South leader was part of the decision to pick Jonathan as running mate. In 2018, name one South-East leader that was part of the decision to pick Obi?
“The way Secondus is going about the running of the party, I have the feeling that something terrible might happen to the party before the election and it may cause us 2019,” the party leader from the north said.
Elucidating more on the reasons for the South-East leaders’ anger, one of the leaders from the zone, further said, the leaders were just unhappy about how Atiku reneged on some of the agreements reached with him especially on the need to carry all stakeholders along from the zone.
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“But shortly after he emerged as the PDP candidate, he has stopped consulting Ekweremadu, South-East governors and leaders. The annoying thing is that he succumbed to pressure from outside our zone to pick Obi and he did not bother to revert to our leaders and governors on his choice. Remember, before Saraki’s defection, Ekweremadu was the highest ranking political office holder in the party. And till date, he remains the highest ranking political office holder in our zone, he was never briefed and till date, he has not been briefed on why Obi was picked, whereas it was Ekweremadu who coordinated and delivered the bloc votes from our zone to Atiku at the Port Harcourt convention. But he is yet to call Ekweremadu since after the convention,” he said.
Ekweremadu not desperate to be VP
He also dismissed the insinuation that Ekweremadu was desperate to be the country’s Vice President.
“Truth is the party has been most unfair to Ekweremadu and the current attempt to sideline him in the PDP despite being there for the party all the while, if not checked will boomerang on the party. He was not carried along in deciding who the running mate will be; we took it as an oversight. But now, he is being sidelined in the constitution of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) by the party chairman. The council was constituted without his knowledge, input, and without a single nominee from him as against the usual practise.
“I tell you something, Ekweremadu is not desperate to be VP. He is only concerned about the place of Ndigbo in the scheme of things. However, we believe that there is a major conspiracy to alienate him politically. He gave PDP lifeline when all hope was lost by emerging as Deputy President of the Senate in 2015 by the support of his colleagues.
“So the assumption is that if Atiku can treat South-East leaders and governors in this manner as a candidate, what if he becomes the President? He has failed the simple test of trust and confidence. When in need, he offered Ekweremadu the position of running mate; therefore, courtesy demands that he should have at least also confided in him before choosing Obi. And if he could not do that, he should have at least called after making the decision. But all these, Atiku never did,” the source added.
How APC tried to emasculate Ekweremadu politically
The South-East leader further said, “Can you recall what the Labour minister, Dr. Chris Ngige said when Ekweremadu emerged as Deputy Senate President? Let me help you and your readers. Ngige had said ‘the PDP in the South-East will have oxygen to breath from since they now have the highest ranking person in Nigeria coming from the South-East, that disadvantages us and puts us in a difficult position on our aspiration to make the South-East people to join the main stream of Nigerian politics by aligning with the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government.’
“He was serially persecuted and prosecuted for the same reason. Again, Ngige said something about it. ‘You know, there are many ways to kill a rat. You can decide to go and kill it manually, you can go and put it in hot water, and you can use poison – Gammalin. We are back to the drawing table because it poses a problem for us.’ That statement from Ngige laid the foundation for the series of persecution, prosecution and intimidation suffered by Ekweremadu. He had the option of dumping his party or even betraying Saraki during those travails. But he did not do all of those.
“Ekweremadu’s position is that with the latest development, the region may not be able to negotiate further with Atiku from the position of strength. If he is eventually pushed to leave the party, Secondus, his backers and Atiku should be held responsible,” he said.
South-East and the struggle for 2030
But other informed sources say, at the core of the opposition to Obi’s nomination, is the 2023 general election, and not non consultation with the South-East PDP leaders.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has promised to field a South-east candidate for the presidency in 2023, if the zone supports President Muhammadu Buhari, who is the presidential candidate of the party, for next year’s election.
On the other hand, Atiku too has promised to do a single term if elected president. Consequently, it is expected that in 2023, the South -East might have the opportunity to produce the president.
Pundits say there is need for the South-east leaders to secure 2019 first, by rallying round Obi, before plotting for who becomes what in 2023.
A member of the House of Representatives, Linus Okorie said the discordant tunes from the South-East over Obi’s nomination as the PDP’s vice presidential candidate is not in the interest of the zone.
“It behoves on the leaders of Ndigbo to avoid sending out wrong signals at a time unity and brotherhood would be their greatest strength.”
Okorie, who represents Ohaozara/Onicha/Ivo Federal Constituency, in statement said, instead of kicking against the former Anambra governor’s nomination, the South-East governors, the pan Igbo organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, as well as other Igbo leaders should congratulate him and rally support for the ticket, adding that “to do otherwise would be class suicide and Ndigbo must not play into the hands of enemies at this critical time.”
The lawmaker further said, already, the Yoruba have indicated interest in the Atiku VP slot if Ndigbo are unable to manage that political windfall. Ndigbo must therefore create a balance between control and the more devastating perception of disunity, adding that the impression already being created is that Ndigbo are unable to manage political successes and may not provide the pivotal bloc needed to drive the Atiku challenge for Presidency.
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“They should indeed congratulate their son who has been so honoured, the PDP and its Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, for the recognition and act of solidarity. Beyond that, they can then pursue a programme of strategic engagement to address any lacuna in the nomination process to further cement the confidence between and amongst all parties involved,” Okorie added.
Speaking in the same vein, another federal lawmaker, who pleaded for anonymity said, those who are insisting that the fight for who gets what in 2023, was the reason for the seemingly opposition to Obi’s nomination by the leaders of the South-East zone, are missing the point.
He said “only parties to negotiations can compel and persuade the other party to abide by the terms of the negotiations. It was a collective decision we took to back Atiku for a number of reasons. One, we had wanted to meet with the South-South to take a common position on that. But one leader in particular from the zone, treated us as if we didn’t matter. So, when Ekweremadu called us, we met and weighed the options before us based on the offers made by each of the aspirants.
“One of the offers that fascinated us most, which is restructuring, was made by Atiku. Then the other was his desire to do just one term so as to enable the South-East field a presidential candidate in 2023. We saw that as a good counter to our opponents, the APC in the South-East, who have been canvassing that a Buhari’s second term was the surest way to Igbo presidency in 2023.
“Now, after the primary, we expected Atiku to come back to us, so we can tidy up the details of our understanding, and move on from there. But that did not happen. The next thing we heard was that announcement of a running mate without recourse to us. Nobody is against Peter Obi’s choice, not even Ekweremadu, who has been asking us to take it easy. But that is not how to go about it, unless Atiku thinks himself and Obi can go it alone in the South-East.
“The deputy senate president is not personally bitter over the turn of event. His only concern is that the way the actors were going about it, if we don’t check them, South-East may not be in a position to push through some of the understandings it reached with Atiku before giving him our support, key among which is restructuring and 2023 Igbo presidency project.
“I agree with you, they just used and dumped Ekweremadu. The man has always been faithful in all their deals and arrangements. He will keep to his own side of the bargain, but these people have never kept faith with him. But he has since moved on,” the federal lawmaker added.