Wike vs Okowa: Atiku replies Ortom

Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential candidate, has responded to claims that he turned down the governor of Rivers State, Nyeson Wike, as his running mate in the 2023 election.

The governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, stated in an interview that a committee was formed in the presidential candidate’s best interest to choose his running partner.

He asserted that Nyeson Wike received the support of 14 of the committee’s 17 members, accusing Atiku Abubakar of willful neglect in favor of Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State.

Ortom therefore said the presidential candidate should have reached out to the Rivers State governor over his choice of another candidate for the position.

Ortom argued: “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.

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“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”.

Reacting in an exclusive interview on Arise TV on Friday, Atiku said the information given by Samuel Ortom was inaccurate, adding that he didn’t reject Wike as reported in many quarters.

He explained that the PDP committee headed by Ortom was actually put together by his instance, and that the committee never took any vote on any preferred candidate.

He said “the committee presented three names to me knowing that it was the prerogative of the presidential candidate to choose a running mate”.

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He added that the party was working really hard to settle its internal post-presidential primary crises ahead of the 2023 general elections.

“People need to be fair to me. There were no votes whatsoever as to whom I should pick as the running mate. It’s the prerogative of the presidential candidate to pick who he can work with amicably to deliver his policies and ideas. So what happened was not a matter of rejection. The word is too harsh.

“We will reach out to Governor Wike in due course and the party will settle its internal crises and move forward”, Atiku said.