In the 2007 election, Atiku explains why he didn’t choose Tinubu as his running mate.

In the 2007 election, Atiku explains why he didn’t choose Tinubu as his running mate.

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

FastNews reports that in 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 from political participation or power-sharing.”