In response to his choice to not choose Nyesom Wike, the incumbent Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), as his running mate in the 2023 election, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said he has no regrets.
Atiku addressed issues about the leadership crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that preceded his selection in an upcoming interview for the television program Untold Stories with Adesuwa Giwa-Osagie, which is scheduled to run today but was obtained by Daily Trust.
Many analysts conjectured that Atiku’s election defeat was influenced by the choice to ignore Wike, who had spearheaded a mutiny within the PDP with five other governors. Later, Wike boasted about delivering Rivers State for President Bola Tinubu and worked against Atiku.
Atiku had a clear response when asked if he regretted not choosing Wike: “No, not at all.”
Recalling the criticism he received in 2019 for supposedly not consulting many people when choosing Peter Obi as his running partner, Atiku clarified that his decision was based on the procedure used inside the party.
After winning the PDP nomination in Port Harcourt, Atiku revealed that he spoke with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who suggested that he choose a running mate from the South-East rather than the South-West.
According to Atiku, Obasanjo recommended well-known individuals like Charles Soludo and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, but neither was a PDP member.
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Atiku ultimately selected party member Peter Obi, who was also recommended by Obasanjo. Wike and Aminu Tambuwal, among other party leaders and governors, told Atiku that there were no issues to Obi being selected as his running partner. He later came under fire, though, for not consulting the party enough.
According to Atiku, he asked the party to form a committee to suggest three potential running mates in 2023 as part of his commitment to involve them more in the selection process.
Atiku claims that the group recommended three names: Udom Emmanuel as the third, Wike as the second, and Ifeanyi Okowa as the first.
Atiku chose Okowa, the first option, and explained that he didn’t pick Wike since he was only the second option on the list.
