Atiku: I have no regrets choosing Okowa over Wike in 2023

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar says he has no regret for not picking Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election.

In June 2022, Atiku announced Ifeanyi Okowa, former governor of Delta state, as the vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the poll.

The former vice-president had won the party’s primary election. Before the announcement, there were speculations that Atiku would pick Wike, who came second at the primary, as the vice-presidential candidate.

Supporters of Wike, however, rejected the nomination of Okowa.

During the 2023 election, Wike, former governor of Rivers state, supported Bola Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

During an interview on Untold Stories with Adesuwa, published on Wednesday, Atiku was asked whether he regretted not selecting Wike as his vice-presidential candidate.

The former vice-president said he has no regrets, adding that he followed the decision of the party’s stakeholders in picking Okowa.

“No, not at all,” he responded.

Atiku said the party’s leaders had nominated three names, including Okowa, Wike, and Emmanuel Udom, former governor of Akwa Ibom, for the position.

He added that Okowa was rated in the first position, followed by Wike in second, and Udom in third.

Atiku said he decided to consult with the party in 2023 after facing criticism for not engaging enough for the nomination of Peter Obi as his running mate in 2019.

“In 2023, I threw the whole thing (nomination of vice-presidential candidate) to the party. I said, ‘set up a committee and recommend three people for me to pick as running mate,” he said.

“They set up a committee and came with recommendations. Number one to three. I picked number one. The number two was Wike and the other one was Udom. He (referring to Wike) was not the number one.”