Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue, says 14 out of 17 members
of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) panel preferred Nyesom Wike as the
vice-presidential candidate of the party.
Ortom spoke on Thursday during an interview with Channels
Television.
Recently, Atiku Abubakar, PDP presidential candidate, named
Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta, as his running mate for the 2023 elections.
The selection of Okowa has sparked varied reactions in the
party as it was believed that Wike, governor of Rivers, would be the choice of
the party for the vice-presidential slot.
Speaking on the development, Ortom said the Rivers governor
should have been consulted before Okowa was announced as the vice-presidential
candidate.
“Of course, three names were presented. In the order of
preference, Wike, Okowa and governor Udom – all of them are qualified. But the
preference was Wike – 14 members (referring to the committee) out of 17. This
is the point we are making,” Ortom said.
“Three of them were qualified but governor Wike was
eminently qualified – 14 out of 17 members chose him. All these things were
said during our meeting. We said that for the PDP to win, we needed governor
Wike.
“Yes, Wike may have
his own weak points as others may see it, but to some people, those were his
strong points in this life. For me, the candidate who won the primary has the
final say; he has decided. I have no problem with that.
“But I think that moving forward, Wike should have been
reached out to and even some of us who are supporting Wike should have been told
and convinced that ‘well, for this reason, we are deciding on this’.
“For me, post-nomination of vice-presidential candidate, the
activity that followed is what I’m complaining about. Wike should have been
reached out to. I should have been reached out to, and many other people who
said that it should be Wike.”
The Benue governor added that Abubakar should not have
sought consultations if he was going to choose his running mate without
considering the recommendations of the panel.
“I think it was the
prerogative of the presidential candidate to decide. If he decided just like he
did in 2019 by choosing former governor Obi without consultation, and it was
accepted, he could have done the same thing,” Ortom said.
“If he had a preferred candidate like Okowa — he is a good
man and competent; he has been a senator and governor two terms, and he is my
friend; in terms of qualification, Okowa is qualified — that would not have
been a problem. He would have been accepted.
“But bringing all of us together, taking me from my state
and taking several other governors from their states and bringing all of us to
a committee — very responsible stakeholders, BOT, former governors’ forum and
national working committee — and asking us to recommend, I think 14 out of 17
is enough to take a decision for anyone, whether you are a candidate or not.”
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