Atiku Abubakar, Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has given reasons why Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike was preferred to his counterpart from Delta State, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, that made him the running mate to the ticket holder.
Some of the reasons given by the flag bearer is that Governor Wike is a party loyalist and have shown commitment to the affairs and interest of the party.
Also, Wike was selected by the party advisory panel to be the preferred running mate and vice president if the PDP ever wins the elections, for reasons that he was a much better candidate than Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State, as well as Ifeanyi Okowa.
Remember that Wike had joined the race for the PDP vice-presidential ticket after losing to Atiku Abubakar in the opposition party’s presidential primary.
New reports revealed that Wike secured 13 votes out of 17 members of the panel to emerge the selected running mate.
But speculations within the party is that the final decision on the running mate will be taken by the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.