A former Vice-president and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has said Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, may be named as his running mate in 2023 presidential poll, according to a report by the Nigerian Tribune.
Nigerian Tribune reports that the former vice president has offered the position to the Rivers State governor who was the first runner-up in the primary that produced him as the party’s standard bearer.
It was gathered that Atiku, who was also the candidate of the PDP in the 2019 exercise, would have since announced the Rivers governor as his running mate but for the opposition to the idea by some other state governors.
As of Wednesday, efforts were in top gear to smoothen the way for the Rivers State governor to be named.
The efforts were spearheaded by Governors Sam Ortom (Benue), Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) who were said to be mounting pressure on their colleagues to accept Wike as the running mate.
The three governors in a car driven personally by Makinde, on Wednesday, went to Atiku’s residence in Abuja where they were thought to have briefed him on the progress in the move to get the buy-in of other governors on the running mate issue.
Wike was also present in a meeting that was later confirmed by the presidential candidate in a tweet on his verified Twitter handle @ atiku, saying:
“Governors Nyesom Wike, @seyiamakinde, Samuel Ortom and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi came calling on a courtesy visit before my meeting with the @OfficialPDPNig Governors Forum.
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