The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party presidential (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has addressed some issues ahead of the 2023 general
Atiku, who served as former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s vice president between 1999 and 2007, gave insight into some political issues in an interview with AiseTV on Friday, 22 July.
Speaking on the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the All Progressive Congress, Atiku disclosed that was the reason he rejected Asiwaju Bola Tinubu when he wanted to be his running mate in 2007.
Atiku fell out with Obasanjo in the bid to succeed him, but later clinched the presidential ticket of Action Congress (AC), a party that Tinubu was instrumental to its formation.
During the running battle with Obasanjo, Atiku defected from the PDP and clinched the AC presidential ticket. However, he came a distant third in the election, which was won by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
Tinubu, who will square of with Atiku in the 2023 Presidential election, chose Senator Kashim Shettima, a fellow Muslim as a running mate and this has been generating controversy.
Despite the fallout with his former principal, the presidential candidate of PDP stated that he believes that Obasanjo will support his ambition.
He said: “I have been talking to Olusegun Obasanjo, I assume I have his support, I don’t think he has a better partner to support than myself because I have his legacies to continue.”
When asked about his relationship with Tinubu, Atiku said, “I’m still a friend of him and being friends with him doesn’t mean we can’t have our political differences.”
Speaking about the potential threat of Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to his presidential ambition in the 2023 elections, Atiku clarified that Peter Obi can’t win the election through social media presence and acceptability alone.
He noted that despite the social media sensation and acceptability of Obi’s candidacy, the reality remains that the LP does not have people in government or in the National Assembly.
“The Labour Party does not have a government in any state or anyone in the National Assembly. Peter Obi is not a threat. They said they have 1 million votes in Osun on social media. Meanwhile, 90 percent of voters are not voting through social media,” Atiku said.
Atiku also denied that the committee set up to recommend a running mate for him went through a voting process.
Recall that the PDP has been embroiled in rancour since Atiku picked Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta, as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election. The selection of Okowa sparked varied reactions in the party as it was believed that Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, would be his choice.
There were also reports that most members of the panel set up to recommend a running mate voted for Wike.
Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue, had said 14 out of 17 members of the PDP panel preferred Wike over Okowa.
But Atiku said the committee did not vote, but only made recommendations on the matter.
“The committee that was set up at my own instance deliberated, but there was no vote and they recommended three names because they knew that it was prerogative to pick any one of the three, so there was actually no vote. More so, Ortom himself chaired that committee, he knew that there was not a vote taken and I have the report of that committee,” he said.
“And the committee said we are recommending the following and they recommended three people and out of the three people I picked one. I did not go out of that recommendation. So I think they should be fair to me and should also state the fact.
“We are reaching out to Governor Wike and we are talking with him and I believe very soon we will find reconciliation. We are talking to him and talking to his governor’s colleagues. I observe very well the mistake, we are going to resolve our internal crisis and move on.”
Asked if Ortom lied to the public, Abubakar retorted: “What he said was inaccurate, I can give you a copy that was sent to me, there was no voting there, there was no record of any vote, absolutely not.”
“Governor Wike was not rejected. Nobody was rejected in the party. But you must understand that it’s the prerogative of the candidate to pick his running mate, a running mate he believes he can work with amicably, and then also deliver the policies of the party, and also try to unify the country,” Atiku said.
“Governor Wike is a brilliant politician. He’s courageous and tenacious. I believe he has a future in the political evolution of this country. It’s not a question of rejection. Certainly, not. I think it’s too harsh a word to say that we rejected governor Wike. Certainly not.”
