A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kenneth Okonkwo, has said that Peter Obi’s exit from the party left the South-East region disadvantaged and thrown into confusion during the process that led to the emergence of Rotimi Amaechi as the party’s vice-presidential candidate.
Okonkwo, who’s the spokesman of the ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar spoke on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television’s Morning Brief, while responding to questions on why Amaechi is yet to publicly acknowledge his vice-presidential candidacy on his social media pages publicly, and why Okonkwo’s position appeared to have shifted after Atiku Abubakar nominated him as spokesperson, despite his earlier reservations that the former Vice President did not pick someone from the South-East.
He explained that before the ADC presidential primary, a person representing the South-East had shown interest in the race but exited the process before its conclusion, a development he said left the region “disadvantaged and confused.”
He maintained that Obi’s exit created a vacancy that could not easily be filled because the Electoral Act bars parties from picking running mates who were not party members at least 21 days before the primary, ruling out names such as Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
“The person that represented the southeast in that calculation left unceremoniously before the conclusion of the process, that left southeast disadvantaged and confused, and then immediately Peter Obi exited, it was as if that position that would have been given to Southeast was vacant.
“Some beautiful names were dropped off. You talked about Abaribe, you talked about Ngozi Okonjo, you talked about some nice names, but those names, they were no longer members of ADC,” he said, adding that this was why Atiku “still went to the nearest person that is closest to the southeast.”
On his earlier comments widely interpreted as opposition to Amaechi’s choice, Okonkwo clarified that he never mentioned Amaechi by name or objected to him personally, noting that Amaechi is himself Igbo by ethnicity.
He said his concern was strictly about geopolitical balancing, given that the South-East has not produced a president or vice president since 1999.
Okonkwo said he was satisfied after the party explained the rationale behind the pick, adding that internal negotiations were ongoing to address any lingering reservations within the party.
“We are now one big and happy family. ADC is going to form the next government of Nigeria, and Atiku will be the next president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the grace of God,” he said.
