APC Presidential Primary: How Tambuwal Stepped Down To Aid Atiku’s Victory

Aminu Tambuwal

Former Nigeria's Vice President, Atiku Abubakar won the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primary election that was held on Saturday, May 28, albeit with the help of Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal.

The governor, who was a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, gave the former number two citizen the needed boost when he announced he was stepping down to support Atiku.

About 767 delegates elected from across the country voted in the presidential primary held at Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja.

Atiku scored 371 votes. The first runner-up, Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, polled 237 votes.

Tambuwal, a popular figure in the party, kept his wild card until the last minute.

Just hours to the convention, a meeting among key leaders of PDP from the north failed to broker a consensus deal among aspirants from the north as several of them declined to shift ground; preferring to participate in the primary.

Two aspirants had withdrawn from the race without backing Atiku. They are financial expert, Mohammed Hayatudeen, and Nwachukwu Anakwenze.

Tambuwal’s decision to step down and support Atiku meant that delegates who would have preferred him as candidate would shift grounds subsequently.

So instrumental was Tambuwal’s move that Atiku acknowledged him in a tweet after his “thank you” note.

“Thank you, H.E @AWTambuwal, for your spirited campaign. I look forward to working with you as we unite our party and our country,” he wrote.