The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, said it lost the March 28 presidential election to Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC, because former President Goodluck Jonathan failed to honour the agreement that power should return to the North after eight years.
According to the PDP, Jonathan broke the power shift pact by succumbing to pressure from some governors, party leaders and stakeholders that he should contest the 2015 presidential election instead of allowing the North to contest and complete its traditional eight-year-tenure, adding that with the defeat, after 16 years in government, it has learnt a serious lesson of respecting zoning and agreements in line with the party’s constitution.
Speaking with journalists, yesterday, in Abuja, the PDP National Vice Chairman, South South, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, explained that there was a ‘gentleman arrangement’ by the 34 ‘great’ men who formed the PDP that they would start with rotation of power after eight years between the South and the North, starting with the South where former President Olusegun Obasanjo emerged in 1999.
According to Ojougboh, the North rejected Jonathan and voted President Muhammadu Buhari, their son, into office against the backdrop that former President Jonathan went contrary to the initial gentleman agreement that he would govern for only four years and return power to the North.
He said: “So PDP had the first shot, everybody cooperated, Obasanjo became president. After eight years, it was the turn of the North to become president then problem started. Some people started toying with the idea of third term. PDP said no, PDP members of the National Assembly and other parties said no it will not work; wonderful. The PDP had to produce a candidate and that is how Yar’adua came. Unfortunately, Yar’adua did not survive so the North said look this presidency is our own, we have to utilise our allotted eight years and they were right.
