Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has opened up on why he failed to pick former Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike as his running mate in 2023.
Recall that Wike lost the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, presidential ticket for the 2023 election to Atiku.
There were high expectations that Wike would deputize the
former VP in the election, but he picked former Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi
Okowa instead.
Many party stakeholders believe that the decision birthed the present face-off between Atiku and Wike, who is now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
In a yet-to-be-aired interview for a television show, Untold
Stories, with Adesuwa Giwa-Osagie, scheduled for broadcast today, Wednesday,
Atiku recalled how party leaders accused him of not consulting widely before
picking former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi as his running mate in
2019.
“They said I did not consult with the party enough. So in
2023, I threw the whole thing to the party. I said, ‘Okay, set up a committee
and recommend three people for me to pick as a running mate”, he said.
The former VP noted that the committee submitted three names
with Ifeanyi Okowa as the first choice, Wike as the second, and former Akwa
Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel as the third.
“So I picked number one,” he said, adding that his decision
not to pick Wike was simply because he was the second choice on the list.
However, Atiku, who had run for the presidency a record six
times, said he had no regrets about not picking Wike.
“No, not at all,” he said.
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