Osita Okechukwu, a founding member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has leveled an accusation against the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, suggesting that Atiku endorsed President Bola Tinubu’s presidential candidacy.
Okechukwu made this assertion amid the controversy surrounding President Tinubu’s academic records.
The APC stalwart contended that Tinubu’s emergence as a presidential candidate was a result of Atiku’s opposition to the zoning arrangement within the PDP prior to the 2023 general elections.
Osita Okechukwu, who serves as the Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), addressed the media on Tuesday and argued that Atiku lacked the moral high ground to discuss the rule of law.
He remarked, “Let’s not cherry-pick; can an elder statesman who vehemently violated his party’s constitution and the existing national rotation convention genuinely speak about the rule of law? It is a well-established principle that he who seeks equity must come with clean hands.
“While many of us were concerned about the controversy surrounding President Tinubu’s academic records, the fact remains that only a diploma was submitted to INEC.
“The survival of our nascent democracy and the fragile unity of our beloved country are of paramount importance, particularly with anti-democratic forces gaining momentum in our West African sub-region.
“Let’s not forget that Atiku endorsed Tinubu by intentionally flouting the PDP’s constitution and the national rotation convention, which uphold equity, natural justice, and good conscience as the principles uniting our nation.”
Okechukwu called on Atiku to, instead of focusing on Tinubu’s records, “have the courage to step down from his high pedestal and offer a heartfelt apology to the entire PDP membership he betrayed and to his in-laws – the Igbo community, which placed their hopes in the PDP for over 20 years, anticipating the PDP’s turn in the 2023 presidential election.”
Furthermore, Okechukwu asserted, “We must resist the temptation of following the unbridled ambition of His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, to become president, which could potentially ignite a crisis in our beloved country.
“We should not undermine our democracy, which has steadily improved with each election cycle. While we acknowledge the challenges in the 2023 presidential election, we cannot jeopardize our nascent democracy due to the anti-democratic forces at play in our West African sub-region.
“However, the democracy we know is not revolutionary but evolutionary. In my view, Atiku’s unquenchable ambition is driving him, knowingly or unknowingly, towards either seizing the presidency by any means or tearing down the house.
“In the eyes of the law, without cherry-picking, Atiku cannot be absolved of violations of Section 7 of the PDP’s Constitution and the principles of the rotation convention that have governed the Fourth Republic.
“Recall that in 2014, Atiku walked out of the PDP convention when President Jonathan violated the rotation convention. In 2019, only northern presidential aspirants participated in the PDP primary in Port Harcourt, and Atiku was the biggest beneficiary. In 2022, he betrayed his own party.”
He concluded by suggesting that if Atiku had accepted the party’s zoning arrangement, the 2023 presidential election would have been a contest between Tinubu and Peter Obi.
