The Presidential Candidate of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, in his justification of his choice of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate, said that he chose a vice presidential candidate that can deliver and is ready to take over from him as president.
This was made known by Atiku Abubakar in a pre-recorded exclusive interview on Arise Television programme, The Morning Show, on Friday morning.
Atiku who said that he chose who he could work with, pointed out that in arriving at the decision, he consulted widely with various stakeholders in the PDP including governors, the national working committee, board of trustees and others.
What the PDP Presidential candidate is saying
Atiku during the interview said, “In arriving at the decision, I held wide consultations with various stakeholders in our party including our governors, the national working committee, board of trustees, and other leaders to seek their inputs and their wisdom.”
- “In these consultations, I made clear that my running mate would have the potential to succeed me at a moment’s notice, that is, a president-in-waiting.
- “In other words, the person must have the qualities to be President. The person must have an appreciation of the deep rot which our country has been put into by the rudderless All Progressives Congress government. One who understands the great suffering that most of our people are going through and the urgency of relieving them of that suffering; understands the critical importance of economic growth and development to provide our young people with jobs, hope, and a pathway to wealth.”
I didn’t reject Wike, Atiku says
- On the insinuations that he refused to pick the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, despite his recommendation by a committee, Atiku denied such allegations saying that he was presented 3 nominees by Governor Samuel Ortom-led committee on vice presidential candidate and was at liberty to pick any of them.
- He said: “I didn’t reject Wike. I picked one who can deliver. Wike is brilliant and tenacious . Going by history, I had picked an Igbo as running mate in 2007, in 2019. I still picked an Igbo for 2023.
- “The committee that presented the three nominees was chaired by the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom. They recommended three people, so I picked one. People should be fair to me and state the facts.”
The former vice president admitted that some members of the party were not happy with his vice presidential candidate pick, particularly Wike, and as such will be reaching out to them including Wike himself very soon to resolve the internal crisis.
