Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, on Monday, said he would not contradict the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party Atiku Abubakar, for the latter’s denial that he jettisoned the recommendation of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) on the selection of the party’s vice-presidential candidate.
Ortom, while speaking in an interview on Arise TV, had said Atiku discarded the PDP NWC’s recommendation by rejecting Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, for his Delta State counterpart, Ifeanyi Okowa, as the party’s vice-presidential candidate for the 2023 general election.
The governor added that he expected the former Vice-President to choose Wike as his running mate instead of Okowa.
“He denied the popular view of the PDP members — 14 out of 17 — who said Wike should be the vice-presidential candidate. I expect more explanation,” Governor Ortom had said.
In his reaction, Atiku, in an interview on Arise TV, said he did not reject Wike as his running, noting that he chose Okowa because he felt the governor could deliver for the party in 2023.
“I didn’t reject Wike, I picked who can deliver. Wike is brilliant and tenacious.
”Going by history, I picked an Igbo as running mate in 2007, in 2019. I still picked an Igbo as running mate for 2023.
“There was no voting. I can give you the copy of the report of the committee. The committee that presented the three nominees was chaired by the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom. They recommended three people, so I picked one.
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“It is my prerogative to choose who I think is the best for me to work with as my VP. And I have consistently been picking Igbo to unify the country.
“People should be fair to me and state the facts. What Ortom said to the public was inaccurate,” the PDP presidential candidate said last Friday.
However, Ortom, who took to his Twitter handle on Monday, said he would contradict Atiku’s statement.
The governor further declared his support for the former Vice-President, adding that the PDP would “always settle our matters in-house”.
“I will not contradict Atiku on what he said. He is my candidate and I am behind him.
“Whatever happened in the course of the primaries and nomination of the presidential running mate is now a thing of the past.
“PDP is a family, and we will always settle our matters in-house,” Governor Ortom stated.
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