Labour Party Should Not Blame PEPT But Atiku Whose Greed Denied Them Victory – Okechukwu

One of the founding members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu, has claimed that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the February 25 election, Atiku Abubakar, is responsible for the defeat of the Labour Party.

Naija News reports that Okechukwu while reacting to the outcome of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC)’s judgment in an interview with journalists in Abuja, said as a Buharist who had experienced the pain of losing post-election litigations, he fully understands the grief of the PDP, LP, and Allied Peoples Movement (APM).

The APC chieftain said although the main opposition, PDP, had bright chances of bouncing back through the 2023 presidential election, the political greed of the party’s candidate, Atiku, denied the party victory and left a massive blow from which it might be difficult to recover.

While sympathising with PDP, LP and APM, the petitioners, particularly supporters of the PDP, Okechukwu said, “The LP should not blame the PEPC but His Excellency, Alhaji Atiku Abubukar, whose hubris and greed combined to deny them victory.”

He also noted that Atiku’s failure to play as a statesman by supporting his former running mate, Peter Obi or any other Southern presidential candidate divided the opposition party.

He dismissed claims by the petitioners that alleged irregularities in the conduct of the election, Tinubu’s qualification, and the failure to transmit results in real-time electronically were fatal to the respondents’ case.

He said, “Those intricate webs could have been resolved if Atiku had obeyed the zoning convention, supported Peter Obi or any other Southern presidential candidate it could been simply an all southern bout. The Wike masquerade couldn’t have emerged. That would have meant that the bulk of votes he garnered could have been credited to PDP.

“Atiku divided PDP’s votes irreparably, all the votes Labour Party garnered were from the party’s stronghold, minus voted warehoused by the former Vice President who naively forgot that northern voters are one of the most sophisticated in the country, but believed that northern electorate would behave like children in a dormitory waiting for directives on how to vote.”

Okechukwu, who is also the Director General of Voice of Nigeria (DG, VON), added that President Bola Tinubu deserves accolades for rescuing the zoning convention, which guarantees equality and natural justice between the North and South.

He stated: “First and foremost, let me congratulate President Tiubu, for rescuing the zoning convention, a ligament binding north and south from unprecedented assault.

“To be honest, my take is that the opposition lost the election that day in 2022, when His Excellency, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar trampled on the presidential zoning convention, which governed the 4th Republic Nigeria and was also embedded in his party’s Constitution.”