Wike vows to frustrate Atiku’s presidential bid again

Abdullateef Fowewe

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has declared that he will do everything in his power to ensure former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, fails in his pursuit of the presidency.

Wike in a statement issued on Wednesday by his media aide, Lere Olayinka, clarified that he harbours no regrets over Atiku’s decision to bypass him as a running mate in the lead-up to the 2023 presidential election.

This statement follows remarks by Atiku, who, in a recent interview with Adesina Giwa-Osagie, reiterated that he had “no regrets” about not selecting Wike for the vice-presidential slot.

The tension between Atiku and Wike traces back to the contentious 2022 PDP primaries election.

Wike, who had expected to be chosen as Atiku’s vice-presidential candidate, was instead passed over in favour of former Delta Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.

Atiku defended his decision, explaining that he had intentionally left the vice-presidential selection to the party after criticism of his 2019 choice of Peter Obi, which was seen as insufficiently consultative.

“I allowed the party to set up a committee to recommend three names for vice-president,” Atiku said, adding that the committee ranked Okowa first, Wike second, and former Akwa Ibom Governor Udom Emmanuel third.

Reacting to Atiku’s statement, Olayinka disclosed that his principal, Wike, has no regret over losing the slot to Okowa.

The statement reads, “Two years after making the #OfficialPDPNig lose a presidential election it could have won, #atiku is giving reasons he did not pick #GovWike as his running mate and that he has no regrets.

“Someone should tell our serial presidential election contester that Wike also has no regret for ensuring that he failed in the election and will make sure that he fails again and again.”