….says Unity topmost on choice of running mate
Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Abubakar Atiku has disclosed that the People’s Democratic party PDP is making frantic efforts by reaching out to the Rivers state governor Nyesom Wike to facilitate reconciliation.
Atiku spoke on Friday in an interview with Arise TV.
The PDP presidential candidate said, “We are reaching out to Governor Wike and we are talking with him and I believe very soon we will find a reconciliation. In fact, very soon, because we are talking to him.
“We are talking to his governor colleagues.I am very optimistic we are going to resolve our internal crisis and move on,” he added.
Atiku, who described Wike as an influential politician who has a good future in Nigerian politics, noted that he did not reject the governor.
He said, “The committee that was set up at my own instance deliberated. There was no vote, and they recommended three names, because they knew it was my prerogative to pick anyone of the three. So, there was actually no vote. It’s not true.
“He Governor Ortom himself chaired that committee. He knew there was no vote taken, and I have the report of that committee. The committee recommended three people and I picked one. I did not go out of that recommendation. So, I think people should be fair to me and should also state the fact,” he added.
On agitation over Atiku’s selection of Governor Ifeanyi Okowo of Delta State as running mate over Wike.
Atiku said he chose Governor Okowa as his vice presidential candidate for the 2023 election over Governor Wike because of his desire to unite Nigeria.
The PDP candidate said that it is the prerogative of the candidate to pick his running mate; one that he believes he can work with amicably to deliver the policies of the party and also try to unify the country
“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.”