By Gideon Njoku
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, has given an insight into the Party’s relationship with its Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in 2019.
Ayu said Atiku was on his own in his choice of his running mate then.He said Atiku did not consult widely before his choice, and so the Party had no hand in Atiku’s choice of his running mate then.
Ayu disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, while addressing members of the PDP consultative Committee given the job to assist Atiku in the choice of his running mate against the 2023 Presidential election.
In 2019, Atiku, as is the case now, was the Presidential candidate of the PDP. Peter Obi, a former Governor of Anambra State was his running mate.
However, in the race against 2023, Obi a former Presidential aspirant under the PDP, suddenly resigned from the Party and joined the Labour Party, LP. Since then, Obi and the almost moribund LP have spread like wild fire in a harmattan season, attracting millions of youths nationwide. Obi had since become the flagbearer of the LP.
But speaking on the choice of Obi in 2019 as Atiku’s running mate, Ayu, short of saying it was a mistake, said the Party was not consulted then by Atiku, unlike now.
Ayu: “Our Presidential candidate, this time, has decided to carry everybody along unlike 2019 when he didn’t consult widely in his choice of running mate.”
The National Chairman assured that the PDP would announce Atiku’s running mate within the next 48 hours.
A couple of names have been bandied around as Atiku’s running mate.
On Monday, the news went viral, almost, that the former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, has been chosen as Atiku’s running mate on the recommendation of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, who it was said, rejected the offer.
While a confirmation or otherwise was being awaited, on Tuesday, Wike’s name surfaced as Atiku’s running mate. A number of online platforms and a couple of conventional media carried the story. They said Wike was given the position on the recommendation of the Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal who is, also, the Chairman of PDP’s Governors Forum.
Recall that at the Presidential Primary of the Party in Abuja in May, Tambuwal, who like Atiku and Wike, was a Presidential aspirant, stepped down and directed his supporters to vote for Atiku.
Atiku beat Wike to a respectable second place. Wike felt betrayed by Tambuwal who he had fully backed in 2018 against Atiku at the Presidential Primary held in Porthacourt.
Atiku won the Primary but was defeated in the main election by the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.
Other names being speculated include Delta and Akwa Ibom State Governors, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa and Udom Emmanuel. The name of a former Governor of Imo State, the Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, also was speculated at a time.
