The standard bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar, has reacted to reports that he rejected Governor Nyeson Wike of Rivers State as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election, IgbereTV reports
Samuel Ortom, Governor of Benue State, had in an interview claimed a committee was set up in the interest of the presidential candidate to select his running mate.
He claimed that 14 out of the 17 members of the committee voted Nyeson Wike as the preferred candidate, accusing Atiku Abubakar of intentional neglect in favour 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.
“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”
