- * 'It's Just A Recommendation, Party NWC, Wike, Yet To Accept', Says PDP Committee Member
By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief) @CelestineOkaf11
Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) selection committee on who becomes the vice presidential running mate to Atiku Abubakar for the 2023 poll, on Tuesday, recommended Rivers State Governor, Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, as the choice of the majority of the members of the committee, for the job.
NIGERIAN NEWS-LEADER Newspaper gathered shortly after the committee's deliberation, that a great majority of the members went for Wike essentially on the basis of his alleged popularity and enormous clout within the party; his courage, tenacity and vigorous efforts and sacrifices in sustaining the party during the PDP's low moments in the early period of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.
President Candidate Atiku Abubakar and Nyesom Wike Walking
NEWSLEADER also gathered from multiple sources at the committee, that Wike became the choice of most members on account of his deep pocket and his willingness to spend funds heavily to finance the election for the PDP.
The source also disclosed that the committee equally thought about the rising popularity of Nyesom Wike in the South-South geo-political zone; his alleged creditable performance at the May 28 PDP Presidential primary where he came second to Atiku with substantial votes and the political morality of side-stepping him to choose another candidate from the South-South, among other considerations.
PDP Committee Members arriving for the meeting
While Wike whose name and those of two other South-South governors, namely - Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state and Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom state - were presented to the committee for pick, won the day with 16 votes, Okowa garnered 3 votes while Udom Emmanuel scored 0.
The committee source however said that what they did was a mere recommendation based on the preference of the committee members on the three names presented to them. "It’s a recommendation. He (Wike) doesn’t have to take it, and don't forget that the party leadership has a great input to make in the matter of who is chosen as Atiku's vice", the source said.
The membership of the selection committee comprises of three members of the former Governors forum in the persons of ex-Jigawa state governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, former CrossRiver State governor, Liyel Imoke and former governor of Niger state, Dr Babagida Aliyu. And from the PDP Governors Forum, are: Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Senator Muhammed Bala of Bauchi state, governor Samuel Ortom and three others from the PDP Board of Trustees (BOT), namely - Hajia Inna Ciroma, former Senate president, David Mark, and one other.
PDP National Chairman Dr Iyorchia Ayu Welcoming Committee Members
The party's selection committee was set up by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, to screen the three southern governors and recommend one for the position of Vice President. The consequential recommendation of governor Nyesom Wike, has put-paid to days of painstaking search, internal intrigues and political permutations over which of the Southern zone would produce a running mate for the PDP Presidential flagbearer, Atiku Abubakar.
The selection of Wike might have set the stage for the formal announcement of the Rivers governor as the ultimate choice and it's subsequent transmission of the joint presidential nomination ticket of both Atiku Abubakar and Nyesom Wike to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Governor Wike was the first runner-up to Atiku Abubakar at the May 28, 2022 PDP special convention held at the velodrome of the National Stadium, Abuja. NNL.
