Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State has cautioned against actions that are capable of endangering national unity and cohesion
Making this assertion while speaking to correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday, Uzodinma affirmed that the choice of the running mate is for Tinubu to make and not the APC governors.
Asked whether a single faith ticket was desirable, Uzodinma said, “I did not say is not about a single faith ticket. I said there are internal characteristics that the decision-maker may consider in the process of making his decision. The decision whether to choose Mr A or Mr B to be a running mate to a candidate is entirely that of the candidate.
“You started by saying the governors of the South-East are complaining of not having the opportunity of being a running mate anymore. But that is not the sole ambition of the southeasterners, talkless of the governors to be a running mate. And in the business of presidential primaries, there is no election for a vice-presidential candidate. The business there is just to elect a candidate.
“In that ballot paper, there is no room for delegates to vote for who will be your running mate. So, that explains why it is not a decision for the public, for the people. It is the decision of the candidate. The first thing to do is to elect the candidate. Now a candidate has emerged.
“Now the candidate will factor into consideration some ideas and issues like how to create a spread. Spread is very important to be able to attract votes. So, the decision of who becomes your running mate, if I were the candidate, what would inform it is what would enable me to get the kind of votes I’m looking for because the ultimate goal is to win the election.
“So, maybe I’ll start from the denomination, ethnicity, or followership. In this business of democracy, I think the number is what is very important. And there are certain things as a nation we should not bring to the public discourse.
“Those things that are capable of creating divisiveness against national unity should not be encouraged. It does not mean that I will not remember that I come from a place but I must also be cautious and careful about how to use where I come from in taking national decisions. That is very important.
“The second question which is about a running mate, South-East is not meant for running mate. What we want as a zone is to be the president of Nigeria and I was convinced that it was proper for us to ask for it.
“But in this business, it is partisan democracy. The minority will have their view but the majority will have their way. In the wisdom of the delegates that elected the presidential candidate, a candidate has emerged. Our party, APC, will come together, work for our candidate and produce the next president. Simple.”
