Goodluck tells Igbo leaders Atiku does not need their approval to pick his running mate

FORMER president Dr Goodluck Jonathan has lashed out at some Igbo leaders for refusing to endorse Peter Obi as the vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) saying Alhaji Atiku Abubakar did not need their endorsement before picking a running mate.

On Friday, former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who recently emerged as the PDP's presidential candidate, announced that he had picked ex-Anambra State governor Obi as his running mate. On Saturday, however, governors from across the southeast lashed out at the way the decision was made, saying that they were not consulted by either Alhaji Abubakar or the PDP hierarchy.

Governor David Umahi, the chairman of the Southeast Governors Forum, said that they would consequently not be endorsing the candidacy of Governor Obi. After a meeting of the governors in Enugu, he said that neither they nor other Igbos elders were told about the decision despite an earlier agreement that they would be consulted and asked to produce a candidate if the position was zoned to the southeast.

Castigated as selfish and egocentric, the southeast governors have come in for a lot of criticism for their comments as voters across the geo-political zone have accused them of threatening its capture of a key position with their selfishness. Now, Dr Jonathan has waded into the debate, saying that Alhaji Abubakar is within his rights to select a running mate of his choice.

Pleading with the Igbo leaders to accept the choice of Governor, Dr Jonathan said Alhaji Abubakar's decision does not require regional review and approval. In a lengthy statement signed by his media aide Ikechukwu Eze, Dr Jonathan called on the Igbo governors and leaders to rally behind the Atiku/Obi ticket to ensure a PDP victory next February.

He said: “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 understanding in the southeast 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 every political process but 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.

"Anything other than this could create tension and 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 given a free hand to choose who he wants to work with as his vice president without putting him through undue pressure and in this regard, only minimal consultation is required 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 First Republic is one that places the choice of a running mate at the behest of the candidate, based on his own convictions on capacity and compatibility.

“From my political history beginning from deputy governor to president, I can say that this is the tradition and standard practice in countries where either the president and his vice or governor and his deputy contest elections on a common slate. In such instances, once a candidate emerges, he or she is given a 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 southeast 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.”