Former Vice President and 2019 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has revealed that former President Olusegun Obasanjo suggested Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo, and ex-Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi as potential running mates in the 2019 election.
Atiku disclosed this in an interview with Adesuwa Giwa-Osagie, published by Daily Trust on Wednesday. Despite ultimately selecting Obi and bypassing the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, Atiku said he was later criticized for not consulting widely enough before making his decision.
Recounting his conversation with Obasanjo, Atiku said:
“In 2019, after securing the PDP ticket in Port Harcourt, I went straight to Abeokuta to meet my boss, President Obasanjo, and informed him, ‘Mr. President, I have got the ticket.’
He then asked, ‘Where will your running mate come from?’ I replied, ‘Either the South-East or South-West.’ He dismissed the South-West, saying he had already served two terms there and advised me to pick from the South-East.”
Atiku explained that when Obasanjo initially suggested Okonjo-Iweala, he declined, arguing that she was not a PDP member and would likely be rejected by the party. The same concern applied to Soludo.
“Then he asked, ‘What about Peter Obi?’ I said, ‘Yes, Peter Obi is a PDP member.’ That was how the choice was made.”
Atiku said he later consulted with party leaders, including then-PDP National Chairman Uche Secondus, Wike, and Governor Aminu Tambuwal, among others, informing them of Obasanjo’s recommendation.
“I told them, ‘I have spoken to my boss, and this is what he advised. Do you have any objections?’ They had none, so I went ahead and announced Obi as my running mate.”
Despite this, Atiku faced criticism for not consulting widely enough. He noted that in the 2023 election cycle, he took a different approach, allowing the party to set up a committee to recommend three candidates for him to choose from.
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