From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, said he has been vindicated for not choosing the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, as his running mate in the 2023 general election.
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Atiku, who was reacting to Wike’s tirade against him, reiterated that the former Rivers governor worked against his political party, allegedly because he lost the presidential primary and was not nominated as vice presidential candidate.
Atiku, who spoke through his media aide, Paul Ibe, told Daily Sun last night that the FCT Minister was not in a position to talk about him.
During his monthly media parley on Monday, Wike had said if he were Atiku’s son he would have counseled him against jumping from one political party to another, noting that the former vice president, who recently dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the African Democratic Congress (ADC), was pushing for a coalition because he was not sure of getting the presidential ticket of the major opposition party for the 2027 polls.
However, Atiku said he could not have remained in the same political platform with someone like the FCT minister, who openly worked with the All Progressives Congress (APC) against his own political party and has continued to brag about it.
“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. What can you say about a man who publicly say at the Velodrome of the MKO Abiola Stadium venue of the convention where the PDP primaries was held; a man who spoke to delegates and said to the whole world that anybody that emerged as the candidate of the party, he will work with the person.
”In tandem with his own commitment, nobody compelled him, forced 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.
“What qualifies him to speak about Atiku Abubakar, knowing fully well that what he did in 2023 was unprecedented in the history of politics and political parties, for a governor of a state, a leader to openly work against his party and ragged about it.
“Why? Because he fell short of winning the PDP presidential ticket and also he wanted to be the vice presidential candidate and he didn’t get that. And because of that, Wike has worked with Tinubu’s APC to pull down the roof of the PDP. He did that in 2023, he is still doing it. And he has continued on the same template. We will not be in the same covering with someone like him. A man who sleeps with people with a dagger hidden behind his back. Wike is not qualified to be casting aspersions on the person of Atiku Abubakar.
“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.”
The post I’ve been vindicated for not choosing Wike as running mate – Atiku appeared first on The Sun Nigeria.
