Olusegun Ariyo
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has opened up about why he failed to pick former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike as his running mate in 2023.
Wike lost the People’s 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.
