Atiku Abubakar: "We Have Been Vindicated for Not Choosing Wike as Running Mate"

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said he feels justified in his decision not to select Nyesom Wike, the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), as his running mate during the 2023 presidential election.

Reacting to recent comments made by Wike, Atiku, through his media aide Paul Ibe, accused the former Rivers State governor of undermining the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after losing the party’s presidential primary and missing out on the vice-presidential ticket.

In an interview with Daily Sun on Tuesday night, Ibe stated that Wike lacks the moral credibility to speak on Atiku’s political trajectory or character. This follows Wike’s remarks during his monthly media parley on Monday, where he criticised Atiku for his repeated defections across political parties since 1999. Wike also took a swipe at the former vice president’s recent move to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) ahead of the 2027 elections, saying: “If I were his son, I would have counselled him against jumping from one party to another. He is only pushing for a coalition because he knows he cannot secure the PDP presidential ticket.”

In response, Atiku’s camp insisted that Wike’s collaboration with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2023 election sabotaged the PDP’s chances. According to Ibe, this betrayal confirms that Atiku was right to exclude Wike from his presidential ticket.

He stated: “As things stand now, nobody will ever take him seriously. We don’t take Wike seriously. We will not be under the same room with someone like him who is sleeping and having a dagger behind him.”

He further recalled Wike’s pledge during the PDP convention held at the MKO Abiola Stadium, where the then-governor told delegates he would support whoever emerged as the party’s candidate. Atiku’s aide argued that Wike failed to honour this public commitment, instead choosing to side with the opposition.

“Nobody compelled him to make that public declaration. We expected that he would have kept to his word to work with whoever emerged, but he did not do that. And what did he do? He went into bed with the APC and was able to conscript others to work with him against his own party,” he said.

He also accused Wike of orchestrating an internal collapse of the PDP out of personal frustration: “Why? Because he fell short of winning the PDP presidential ticket and also wanted to be the vice presidential candidate and didn’t get that. Because of that, Wike has worked with Tinubu’s APC to pull down the roof of the PDP.”

Reaffirming Atiku’s decision, Ibe concluded: “We have been vindicated for not choosing him as presidential running mate. He doesn’t exhibit, he doesn’t manifest, he doesn’t carry himself in a way that suggests that he would have fitted into that (VP) office.”