Intrigues In PDP As Atiku Picks Wike As Running Mate For 2023 Presidential Elections

A report indicates that former vice president and presidential aspirant on the platform of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, have picked Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state as his running mate in place of Peter Obi, a former Anambra state governor, an economist who was Atiku’s running mate in the 2019 general election.

Sources quoted in the report say Atiku’s decision to dump Obi was because he allegedly made little financial contributions to the 2019 campaign purse as well as inability to win his state Anambra and the southeast for the party in the presidential election.

A source in the Atiku campaign team said that, “Prior to the 2019 election, Governor Peter Obi didn’t have a strong political structure outside the southeast. People just loved him because of his vast knowledge of the economy, winning an election goes beyond all that.

“For instance, since he left office and joined PDP he has not been able to have his nominees win the governorship election in the state. Although he is brilliant and can speak good grammar, interprets the economy very well, winning an election is much more than that. How much did he bring to the table?

“To successfully run an election in this country you need money, connection, strong and vast political structure, etc, and these you find in abundance in Nyesom Wike. He is a good material any day and that’s not the kind of man you leave behind, especially if you want to win election in Nigeria.”