Former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has justified the action of Sokoto state governor, Aminu Tambuwal, during the Peoples Democratic Party’, PDP, presidential primary last weekend.
Recall that Tambuwal, in the last minute stepped down for former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and urged his supporters and delegates to cast their votes for Atiku.
The move didn’t go down well Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State who felt ambushed by Tambuwal’s action. He averred that such arrangement and horsetrading should have taken place long before the primaries.
The Rivers Governor said that at some point he wanted to disrupt the presidential primary, especially when Tambuwal was allowed to mount the podium again to announce his decision to step down.
Reacting to Wike’s outburst, Lamido said what Tambuwal did was in the best interest of the party, noting that the party saw Atiku as the candidate who could guarantee its victory at the polls next year.
He spoke when he featured on Channels TV flagship programme, politics today, on Wednesday.
Lamido, is said to be one of the northern leaders who played a key role in convincing Tambuwal to step down and back Atiku’s candidacy during Saturday’s presidential primaries and national convention of the party.
Lamido, who hailed Wike’s efforts and contributions to the main opposition party, even noted that nobody has carried the party the way Wike has done in the last two years, but said the party was pragmatic in its decision.
He opined that Wike reacted to the defeat like any other human being.
“There is nobody who talked about the PDP in the last two years like Wike but the party picked who they thought is the best for the presidential ticket,” the ex-Jigawa governor told Channels Television on Wednesday evening.
He insisted that the decision to ensure Atiku triumphed was not made based on region but to give the party the best sellable candidate to challenge the ruling party.
“Wike is a normal human being with feelings, emotions and expectations. So when expectations are not met, emotions come in naturally…all of us are there for the party,” he added.
“Wike has tremendously worked for the party and made huge contributions to the party and in the last two years, nobody talked about the party more than Wike, I agree, but you see, at the end of the day, it is the political will of the people of PDP which will prevail.”
Atiku emerged the presidential candidate of the PDP for the 2023 general election after polling a total of 371 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Wike, who garnered 237 votes.
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