By Felix Durumbah,Abuja
The political animosity between Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barrister Nyesom Wike, and the 2023 presidential candidate of opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has shown no signs of abating.
Abubakar, popularly known nationwide simply as Atiku, had in an interview, which is yet to be aired, with Adesuwa Giwa-Osagie on the programme, Untold Stories, said he had “no regrets” for not picking Wike as his party’s Vice Presidential candidate for the 2023 poll.
Wike was, at the time, rounding off his second term as governor of Rivers State and though he ran for the PDP presidential ticket and lost, coming second in the standings, it was widely believed,at the time, that he expected Atiku to pick him as running mate.
In the Untold Stories interview too, Atiku revealed his political ambition for 2027, saying that he may or may not make another go at the nation’s top job.
The former Vice President, added, however, that at no better time than now, does the country need an experienced and capable president.
Wike Replies Atiku
But, reacting to Atiku’s reference to the controversial 2022 PDP primary and the Adamawa-born politician’s remark that he does not regret not picking Wike, the FCT Minister has swiftly jumped to respond.
Wike, who reacted through his media aide, Lere Olayinka, informed Atiku that,in more of the same, he (Wike) will ensure that Atiku loses in 2027 just as he did in 2023 in moves which helped hand poll victory to now-President Bola Tinubu.
Posting on X, Olayinka wrote: “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.”
Recall that the result of the PDP primary election,as announced by the Chief Returning Officer and former Senate President, Senator David Mark, showed that Atiku garnered 371 votes to beat Wike, who polled 237 votes.
Former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki emerged third with 70 votes, while then- governor of Akwa Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel and his colleague in Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed, scored 38 votes and 20 votes, respectively.
Former Senate President in the President Olusegun Obasanjo era, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, polled 14 votes; pharmaceuticals boardroom guru, Sam Ohuabunwa, and the only female aspirant, Terila Diana Oliver, one vote each.
Altogether, the delegates cast 763 votes; 12 were voided while the number deemed valid was 751.
Revealing why he did not pick Wike, Atiku told Giwa-Osagie that he deliberately left the decision to the party to handle, especially against the backdrop of accusations during the 2019 election that he named a running mate (Peter Obi) without wide consultations.
Atiku said: “They said I did not consult widely in 2019 when I picked Peter Obi as my running mate; so in 2023, I told the party to set up a committee to recommend three names.”
The committee, he disclosed, listed Ifeanyi Okowa (then Delta State governor) as number one, Wike, number two, and Gov. Emmanuel in third place.
“So I picked number one,” Atiku said, -a decision that Wike loudly kicked against at the time,turning his opposition to not just against Atiku but the party too.
Turning to his rumoured bid for 2027, Atiku, in the programme, said: “I don’t know because there has to be, first of all, a viable platform, more than any other time in the political history of this country, particularly since the return of democracy.”
The former Vice President, however, did not yank off the possibility of contesting in 2027, insisting that Nigeria needs a competent president, pointing out that a strong coalition will achieve the desired results.
“I have not seen Nigeria in dire need of, you know, an experienced and credible leadership than this time.
“We had a similar, you know, what would I say, merger in 2014. About four of us, or is it three? We all ran for president and one of us emerged, and we all supported the one who emerged, and he won,” he said.
Only a few days ago, Atiku confirmed the formation of a coalition of opposition heavyweights to try and stop President Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from returning to office in 2027.
Some political analysts believe Atiku may also step down his ambition and support an Obi/El-Rufai presidential ticket under the emerging coalition.
Timeline Of Atiku’s Presidential Bids
Born in November 1946, he started his attempts in 2007 even while serving as the nation’s Vice President in the Obasanjo administration.
Apparently jilted by Obasanjo and some PDP chiefs over his frequent governance headbutting with his boss, Atiku defected to the defunct Action Congress (AC), a party founded and oiled by the then Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, emerging its presidential flagbearer.
But, he lost the 2007 election to late President Umaru Yar’adua of the PDP, Obasanjo’s preferred candidate.
Later, he dumped the AC and returned to PDP where in 2011, he, again, threw his hat in the ring, but suffered a heavy defeat in the party’s primary to incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, who had succeeded Yar’Adua following the latter’s demise.
Alongside some PDP governors, Atiku walked out of the party’s convention in 2013 and in 2014, as Muhammadu Buhari’s Congress for Progressives Change (CPC), Tinubu’s Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), and Rochas Okorocha-backed All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) forged a coalition that birthed the APC, Atiku joined in through a press statement.
Upon joining the APC, Atiku again ran for President and in 2015, jostled for the party’s ticket along with Buhari, and former Kano State governor, Engr. Rabiu Kwankwaso in the APC primary in Lagos.
Again, he lost –this time to Buhari.
In 2019, learning that President Buhari would seek a second term in office, Atiku, yet again, fled the APC and returned to PDP where, against all odds, he nicked the party’s 2019 presidential ticket, still losing the election.
As Buhari’s tenure neared its end, Atiku joined the hustle for his successor in 2023.
Again, despite huge challenges presented by the likes of Wike, Atiku still got the party’s ticket, but lost the election to current President Tinubu.
