Throwback: Atiku explains why he didn’t choose Tinubu as his running mate in 2007.

Throwback: Atiku explains why he didn’t choose Tinubu as his running mate in 2007.

NewsReport gathered that the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar revealed yesterday that he rejected to make former Lagos State Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu his running mate in 2007 due to Tinubu’s desire for the South East.

Advertisements

At a meeting with members of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT) in Abuja, Atiku stated unequivocally that when he defected to Tinubu’s then-action Congress (AC) in 2006, he was offered some conditions before receiving the presidential ticket for the 2007 election. The primary priority, he said, was to select Tinubu as his running mate.

Atiku said he rejected the request and picked Senator Ben Obi from Anambra State because of his belief in the South East.

In his words, “When I joined the Action Congress (AC), which my friend, Bola, set up, he gave me a set of conditions for giving me the ticket. He said that I should make him vice president. I said no, I am not going to make you vice president; instead, I took Ben Obi.”

“When I got the ticket again to run under the PDP, I took another Obi (Peter Obi) coincidentally. So, there is absolutely no reason why they should say that there is a deliberate attempt to exclude the South East in political participation or power-sharing.”