Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman for the African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, says the exit of Peter Obi from the party left the South-East region disadvantaged a⁶ in confusion.
Okonkwo made this statement on Thursday on Channels Television’s ‘Morning Brief’.
He was responding to questions on why the former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has not publicly acknowledged his vice presidential candidacy on his social media pages.
According to him, before the ADC presidential primary, a person from the South-East had shown interest in the race but exited the process before its conclusion, a development he said left the region “disadvantaged and confused”.
The Nollywood star-turned politician stressed that Obi’s exit created a vacancy that could not easily be filled because the Electoral Act bars parties from picking running mates who were not party members at least 21 days before the primary, ruling out names such as Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
“The person that represented the South-East in that calculation left unceremoniously before the conclusion of the process, that left the South-East disadvantaged and confused, and then immediately Peter Obi exited, it was as if that position that would have been given to the South-East was vacant.
“Some beautiful names were dropped off. You talked about Abaribe, you talked about Ngozi Okonjo, you talked about some nice names, but those names, they were no longer members of ADC,” he said.
