Academic Records: ‘Atiku Endorsed Tinubu’s Presidency By Going Against PDP Zoning Arrangement – Okechukwu

One of the founding members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu, has accused the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar of endorsing President Bola Tinubu’s presidency.

Okechukwu made this claim amidst the controversy around the academic records of President Tinubu.

The APC chieftain noted that Tinubu emerged as President due to Atiku’s stand against zoning arrangement in the PDP before the 2023 general elections.

Okechukwu, who is the Director General of Voice of Nigeria, (VON), while addressing newsmen on Tuesday said Atiku has no moral high ground to talk about the rule of law.

He said, “Honestly let’s not cherry-pick, can an elder statesman who vehemently breached the rotation convention in his party’s constitution and the subsisting national rotation convention sincerely talk of the rule of law? For it’s trite law that he who comes to equity must come with clean hands.

“Whereas one like most of our countrymen was concerned over the whirlwind raised over the Chicago State University’s Papers, however, the bottom line is that only Diploma was deposed to INEC.

“The survival of our fledgling democracy and the fragile unity of our dear country is of premium importance, especially with the anti-democratic wind blowing in our West Africa sub-region.

“Let’s not forget that Atiku anointed Tinubu by deliberately breaching the PDP’s Constitution and the national rotation convention which uphold equity, natural justice and good conscience as the armour unifying our dear country.”

He called on Atiku instead of steering reactions on Tinubu’s record, “to be bold enough, step down from his high horse and profusely apologise to the entire membership of the PDP he betrayed and his in-laws – Ndigbo, who put all their eggs in the PDP’s basket for over 20 years, hoping that PDP will oblige them their turn in 2023 presidential election.”

Okechukwu further stated, “We better resist the temptations of following His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar’s inordinate ambition drive to become president to set our dear country on fire.

“We must not undermine our democracy, which has been improving from every election cycle. Things are hard and agree, the 2023 presidential election has its flaws, but we cannot risk our fledgling democracy to the windstorm of anti-democrats blowing in our West African sub-region.

“Albeit, the democracy we all know is not revolutionary, but evolutionary. Methinks, Atiku’s greed is wittingly or unwittingly driving him to the hysteria of either grabbing the presidency by any means or pulling down the house.

“Repeat in the eyes of the law, outside cherry picking, Atiku cannot be absolved of infractions on Section 7 of the PDP’s Constitution and the ethos of rotation convention which governed the 4th Republic.

“Recall that in 2014, Atiku stormed out of PDP’s convention when Jonathan breached rotation convention and in 2019, only northern presidential aspirants contested PDP’s primary in Port Harcourt and he was the greatest beneficiary and in 2022 he betrayed his great party.”

He submitted that if Atiku had accepted the zoning arrangement of the party, the 2023 presidential election would have been between Tinubu and Peter Obi.