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| Former President Goodluck Jonathan lost to Buhari in 2015 presidential election. |
When it comes to power, the North has only one party. That's according to Nze Ozichukwu Chukwu who is the chairman of Imo State Elders’ Council, Abuja and chairman, Board of Trustee, Okigwe Zonal Development Association, Abuja.
Ozichukwu in an interview with the Daily Sun said President Muhammadu Buhari’s emergence as president in 2015 was a typical reflection of Northern politics especially when they feel it's their right to produce the next President.
He said, majority of Northern elites turned against Jonathan not because of his performance, but his refusal to honour the already established zoning arrangement which is seen as a fundamental principle of the party (PDP).
In response to question on why the PDP lost power to the APC, the former national vice chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), said, "If you talk of 2015, there was so much the party could have done better. As you are aware, President Muhammadu Buhari enjoys a near “cult” followership in the North. However, there was more to his victory than cult followership. There was an implosion in the party in the North.
"The Northern political elite felt deceived and betrayed with the emergence of President Jonathan for another term of office as president. Most of them felt that President Jonathan should have stepped down for someone from the North.
"They held strongly that it was more of a moral question than political loyalty. And that the PDP should have ensured that ‘right things are done right’, with respect to zoning and rotation which were the fundamental principles to which PDP’s claim of being a national party are derived.
"So, it was almost a collective resolve of the entire North to take what they felt, rightly belongs to the North, irrespective of political affiliations and religious persuasions."
