Your 2022 Decision Crippled PDP” – Osita Okechukwu Fires At Atiku

An All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Osita Okechukwu, has called on the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to put Nigeria’s interests first by withdrawing from the 2027 presidential race.

Speaking during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time on Monday, Okechukwu argued that Atiku’s decision to secure the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential ticket in 2022, despite demands for the party to zone the position to the South, sparked a crisis that continues to destabilise the opposition party.

While acknowledging his respect for the former Vice President, Okechukwu urged him to embrace statesmanship for the sake of Nigeria’s democracy.

“I’m speaking in the interest of our country. His Excellency Atiku Abubakar is a man I respect greatly. He was very close to some of my late mentors, Dubem Onyia and Chuba Okadigbo, and I have immense respect for him.

“My appeal is that he should put the Nigerian state and our fledgling democracy first.

“About three years ago, he breached the rotation convention, and the collateral damage has been enormous.

“Fortunately, Nigeria’s democracy survived and the country remained stable, but the damage done to the PDP cannot be quantified.

“Ironically, the consequences also affected him. If he had acted like a statesman in 2022—as I’m urging him to do now—it would have been different. It is still not too late for him to become a statesman.”

Okechukwu recalled that Atiku left the PDP in 2014 to join the APC on the grounds that it was the North’s turn to produce the president, before later returning to the PDP after contesting the APC presidential ticket.

He also noted that no southern aspirant contested the PDP presidential primaries in 2018.

According to the APC chieftain, Atiku’s decision to contest the PDP ticket again in 2022 deepened divisions within the party and weakened its standing as Nigeria’s main opposition force.

He further accused the former Vice President of overlooking the PDP’s internal decisions while blaming President Bola Tinubu for the country’s perceived drift toward a one-party system.

“What I’m saying is that when he breached the zoning arrangement in 2022, it had serious consequences for the PDP.

“Most times, I hear him accusing President Tinubu of trying to create a one-party state. But he forgets—or perhaps deliberately ignores—that if he had allowed a Southerner to emerge as the PDP candidate against Tinubu, even if the party had lost the election, the PDP would likely have remained a much stronger opposition,” he said.