Abuja, Nigeria – Former Vice President and 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has revealed why he did not select Nyesom Wike, the former governor of Rivers State, as his running mate in the last election.
During an upcoming interview on the television program “Untold Stories” with journalist Adesuwa Giwa-Osagie, Atiku explained that his decision was based on the recommendations of a party committee, which had ranked Wike as the second choice.
Atiku recounted that in 2019, when he picked Peter Obi as his running mate, some party leaders criticized him for not consulting widely. Learning from that experience, he decided to delegate the selection process to a committee for the 2023 election.
“They said I did not consult with the party enough. So in 2023, I threw the whole thing to the party. I said, ‘Okay, set up a committee and recommend three people for me to pick as running mate.’”
The committee presented a shortlist of three candidates:
- Ifeanyi Okowa – Former Governor of Delta State (first choice)
- Nyesom Wike – Former Governor of Rivers State (second choice)
- Udom Emmanuel – Former Governor of Akwa Ibom State (third choice)
According to Atiku, he simply followed the committee’s recommendation and picked Okowa, the first choice on the list.
“So I picked number one.”
When asked if he had any regrets about not choosing Wike, Atiku was clear in his response:
“No, not at all.”
His decision to prioritize the party’s consensus rather than personal preference has been seen as an attempt to maintain internal unity within the PDP. However, the fallout from the selection process contributed to the rift between Atiku and Wike, with the former Rivers governor later accepting a ministerial position in President Bola Tinubu’s administration as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
