One month after the victory of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, the party appears to be on a self-destruction path.
It would be recalled that Atiku emerged as the candidate following the dramatic step-down of Aminu Tambuwal, a move that angered Governor Nyesom Wike and his allies.
“I just decided that this our party must not be destroyed. I would have left where I was sitting down and said this convention cannot go ahead except if you allow me to talk. I would have flattened him,” Wike had said some days after the convention.
Although, Governor Wike had publicly said he would not accept to be running mate to anyone. “I’m not coming out to negotiate to be vice to anyone, I’m coming out to contest for the number one position in the country,” he had said.
However, former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, and Governor Samuel Ortom have recently claimed that Atiku offered the VP slot to Wike as compensation.
“Wike never said he wanted to be VP, but when Atiku visited him, he was the one who said, ‘I want you to be my VP’. He said that to Wike. If that then changes, is Wike not supposed to be told? Is he not supposed to know?” Fayose had told journalists.
This was also corroborated by Ortom, who questioned the rationale for jettisoning the recommendation of the 17-man committee on the Vice President.
During an interview on Channels TV, Ortom said 14 members of the committee voted in support of Wike, while only three backed Okowa. Adding that he is yet to decide on supporting Atiku, he nonetheless, admonished the PDP presidential candidate to reach out to Wike.
This is not the first time Atiku will be having challenges over a running mate. Several southeast governors fumed over the choice of Obi in 2018 as running mate to Atiku, who was accused of not consulting widely enough.
