Former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has appealed to leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party in the South East to support the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in his choice of Peter Obi as his running mate to ensure victory for the party in next year’s general elections.
The former President’s appeal followed a statement on Saturday by leaders of the party in the zone, stating that they were not properly consulted before Obi’s nomination was made public.
In a statement addressed to the party members, which he personally signed, Jonathan counseled against insisting on obtaining a zonal endorsement for a vice presidential nomination, adding that it is the prerogative of the presidential candidate to select the person he believes will help him to achieve his vision and goals for the nation.
He said: “I therefore want to directly appeal to my brothers and sisters from the South East zone who are members of our party to reconsider their position and allow the presidential candidate of the PDP to select a candidate he thinks he can work with to be able to achieve the party’s development goals. Since Atiku has already nominated Mr. Peter Obi as his running mate, I am pleading with my party members from the zone to accept his choice.”
The statement reads in full: “I thank members of our great party for the successful conduct of the primaries for the various elective positions ahead of the 2019 general elections. By holding transparent, peaceful and rancour-free convention and primaries across the country, our party has once more, taken the nation’s democratic exercise a notch higher, in line with our well-established tradition of deepening the growth of democracy in our nation.
“I again congratulate all our candidates for various positions, including Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who was overwhelmingly elected by our delegates as the flag bearer of our party in the 2019 presidential election. The popularity and positive reviews of the exercise across the country is a clear demonstration of national endorsement for the choices we made, going into the 2019 elections.
“The task before us is to build on this firm foundation and momentum by pulling in one direction and working assiduously for the victory of these candidates at the polls.
“It is against this backdrop that I appeal for calm and support in the South East where my attention has been drawn to the fact that some leaders of our party are openly expressing their discomfort with the reported nomination of former Governor of Anambra State Peter Obi as Atiku’s running mate. I am told that some of our leaders in the zone have raised issues with the process of consultation that produced the Vice Presidential candidate.
“I affirm that consultation is a key ingredient in any political process. Nonetheless, in the selection of a vice presidential candidate, a presidential candidate is allowed reasonable freedom to select his running mate based on loyalty, trust, experience, temperament and capacity to perform the responsibilities of the office. Any thing other than this could create acrimony between the presidential candidate and his running mate even before the inauguration of the government.
“My plea is for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to be allowed the free hand to choose who he wants to work with as his Vice President without undue pressure. In this regard, only minimal consultation is required at this stage which doesn’t necessarily have to involve full regional review and approval.
“We have to be careful not to give the impression that the process of selecting a Vice Presidential candidate cannot progress until a regional stamp of approval is formally procured. The system we are used to right from the Second Republic when late Chief Alex Ekwueme emerged as Alhaji Shehu Shagari’s Vice Presidential candidate, is one that places the choice of a running mate at at the behest of the candidate, based on his own convictions on capacity and compatibility.
“From my political history as President, Vice President and Governor I can say that this is the tradition and standard practice in countries where either the President and his Vice or Governor or his deputy contest election on a common slate. In such instance, once a candidate emerges, he or she is given the free hand to select the person who understands his vision and plans for the country, as his running mate.
“I therefore want to directly appeal to my brothers and sisters from the South East zone who are members of our party to reconsider their position and allow the presidential candidate of our party to select a candidate he thinks he can work with to be able to achieve the party’s development goals. Since Atiku has nominated Mr. Peter Obi as his running mate, I am pleading with my party members from the zone to accept his choice.”