In a recent interview with a leading Hausa Newspaper, Rariya, Ekwueme said that PDP guidelines stipulated that any presidential or governorship candidate must win his ward and local government elections, but the former president did not win these for the party at local government elections preceding the PDP Presidential primaries.
Ekwueme said: “Most people didn’t understand that I could have scuttled the whole thing in Jos. The government had said that it was the performance of parties at December 1998 local government elections that would decide which parties would get final registration approval.
“So it was crucial for every party to succeed in the local government elections of December 1998. Also, in November 1998, at a meeting of the National Executive Committee of the party, it was also stated in black and white that anybody who did not win his local government for the PDP would not be eligible to contest for presidency. Anybody who did not win his ward would not be eligible to contest for governorship.”
Ekwueme said after the local government elections of December 5, the next NEC meeting of the party approved and confirmed the decisions of the NEC. “In my pocket in Jos, I had a copy of the decision and also the constitution of the party. The chairman of the party was like the chairman of a Board and secretary of the party was like the Managing Director. So, it was the Secretary who had executive powers not the Chairman.
“When the result was announced in Jos and they said Obasanjo won, I had the option of saying I didn’t accept it or to say I accepted it; embrace it and work together to make sure the party wins. I could have said that of all the candidates that contested, it was only six that were eligible and of those six, I had the highest number of votes.
“So, I expected the party to send my name to INEC. Having said that and read the minutes of the NEC meeting, it was incontrovertible that a person who did not win his local government area, he didn’t win his ward, he didn’t even win the polling station in front of his house; so, with that PDP NEC decision, he couldn’t be the party’s candidate.
“And this decision was mentioned at the screening committee when we applied to contest. When the screening committee read the letter and its implications, Solomon Lar (May his soul rest in peace) wrote to them to plead that they should give Obasanjo provisional clearance to contest. That provision turned out to be solid but then I could have made a point that out of six of us, who won our local governments, I had the highest votes among those qualified to contest and I expected the party to nominate me.
“The next day, the secretary who had executive powers could have sent my name and letter to INEC as party candidate while Solomon Lar would have sent Obasanjo’s name and letter to the same INEC. So there would have been confusion in the house of PDP.”
The former vice president said this could also have given the military the chance to prolong its stay “which would defeat all the efforts we made and the risk we took to place our lives on the line during Abacha. My own personal ambition was not worth putting Nigeria at risk and that was why I embraced Obasanjo and went on to campaign for him. Few days after, fund raising was done at the congress hall and I chaired that fund raising ceremony.”
On allegations that the military supported Obasanjo while and politicians supported him in the presidential race, Ekwueme said: “It was not quite right to say that politicians were for me while the military was for Obasanjo.
Two politicians for example, were for Obasanjo. Rimi was a politician.
“And then Bamanga Tukur whom I campaigned for in 1983 when he was running for governorship of Gongola supported Obasanjo. He gave his reasons for supporting Obasanjo in the book ‘This House Has Fallen."
“Tukur said that Obasanjo was like a truck driver and I was like a limousine driver. You know Obasanjo is a rough person and I was a gentleman type of politician and that what Nigeria needed at that time was a truck driver and not a Limousine driver.
Source: Thisday
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