Former vice president and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar has expressed that he chose Delta State Governor Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa over Wike due to his unique attributes of wanting the unification of Nigeria.
In an interview with Arise TV on Friday, Atiku said the reason for not choosing Wike was that he needed a vice he could work with amicably while delivering party policies that seek in the unification of Nigeria.
Atiku was quoted thus: “If you can go through history. I was given a ticket in 2007, I picked an Igbo. I was given a ticket in 2019, I picked an Igbo. In 2022, I was given it and I picked an Igbo man again. This is just to show you my desire to unify the country.”
The Presidential candidate further stated that, “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 further added that Governor Wike is a brilliant politician and was never rejected. He considers the word ‘rejected’ as a word too harsh to have been used for the Rivers state outspoken politician.
