2023: Real reason I didn’t pick Wike as running mate – Atiku

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has claimed he did not pick the Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike, as his his running mate, because he wanted someone he could work with “amicably”.

Atiku revealed this in a chat with Arise TV on Friday.

According to him, he picked governor of Delta, Ifeanyi Okowa, as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election, despite the party’s national working committee (NWC) endorsing Wike for the role.

The choice had created a fissure within the party, with a group of aggrieved stakeholders insisting that Wike should be picked.

Speaking on his choice of vice-presidential candidate, Atiku said he opted for Okowa instead of Wike because he wanted someone that could “deliver the policies of the party, and also try to unify the country”.

“Governor Wike was not rejected. Nobody was rejected in the party. But you must understand that it’s the prerogative of the candidate to pick his running mate — a running mate he believes he can work with amicably, and then also deliver the policies of the party, and also try to unify the country,” Atiku said.

“Governor Wike is a brilliant politician. He’s courageous, tenacious. I believe he has a future in the political evolution of this country. It’s not a question of rejection. Certainly, not. I think it’s too harsh a word to say that we rejected governor Wike. Certainly not.”