The leader of the technical committee for the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, has said that if elected, the former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, will stay in power for only one term.
Dokpesi, who spoke in Umuahia, Abia State on Monday, maintained that Atiku, who hails from the North-East Geo-political zone, was the right person to wrestle power from the All Progressive Congress-led Federal Government.
According to him, the gesture by Atiku will allow the South-East to produce the President in 2027.
Speaking of possible reasons why former President Goodluck Jonathan lost the election to Buhari in 2015, Dokpesi stated that the PDP zoning arrangement was not honoured during the 2015 presidential election.
He said consequently, the party went into the election with a divided house, which it lost.
Dokpesi argued that the PDP had to give the North another chance to complete its fours years in the presidency to wrestle power from the APC in 2023.
He said, “Our party believes in rotation of the office of president between the North and South for two-term of eight years. That was why former President Olusegun Obasanjo handed over to Late Umaru Ya’Adua, but after his death, former President Goodluck Jonathan took over and completed his first term.
“Jonathan also asked for another four years, which was given to him, but when he started asking for another term in 2015, the North felt it was against the zoning agreement of the party.
“So, we went into the election with a divided house and we lost. That is why we have reasoned that for us to wrestle power from APC, we need a strong presidential candidate from the North.
“Since it is believed that the North-East and South-East are the two geo-political zones that have not produced a president. We felt that Atiku, coming from the North-East, is a strong candidate for the job.”
The PDP chairman in the state, Chief Alwell Asiforo, assured the team that the party was open to listening to all those with aspirations who visits the state for consultation.
