Running Mate: Atiku, PDP, Set To Decide Between Wike, Okowa, Dickson

Major stakeholders in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP were at the weekend gripped with anxiety ahead of the final selection of a running mate to the 2023 presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

GreenWhiteGreen GWG reports that the tension follows the emergence of Senator Serikae Dickson in the permutations that had until recently featured Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.

Party sources disclosed that at least two committees constituted by the candidate and the party have been meeting over the choice of a running mate. The reports according to a source privy to the development could be finalized on Monday.

Okowa had initially been regarded as a shoo-in for the slot upon his considerable support for Atiku in the primaries with all but one of the 21 votes from Delta State going the way of Atiku.

Okowa also has the advantage of being able to appeal to voters in the South-South and Southeast geopolitical zones being from the Ika area of Delta State.

However, Okowa’s ascendancy it was learnt has been challenged by internal issues in his local Delta State. The governor is engaged in a war of political attrition with supporters of his political godfather, Chief James Ibori, a development that Atiku insiders are saying could lead to a distraction. Even more, the increasing determination of the All Progressives Congress, APC in the state led by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege to wrest the state from the PDP it was gathered, could be a distraction for the PDP presidential campaign as the governor is said to be having too many battles in his hands.

Besides the internal challenges in Delta State, some elements around Atiku are also strongly championing the case of Nyesom Wike who was the runner-up in the PDP presidential primaries on the note that his constituency in the party cannot be overlooked.

Besides, Wike is also appealing to those who see him as a fighter and also look forward to the rich harvest of votes that Rivers State has regularly produced.

However, another source close to the developments disclosed that the emergence of Dickson as a possible running mate had at the weekend become the dominant issue within the Atiku campaign.

“You will be surprised that Dickson has become the most dominant candidate under consideration,” a source privy to the development told GreenWhiteGreen GWG.

“Dickson is a real Ijaw and the Ijaw are found in all the states from Lagos to Akwa Ibom and that is a constituency that cannot be ignored.

“Dickson’s mother is Yoruba from Ijebu-Ode and he is also regarded as the son of the Awujale, the source disclosed.

However, while Atiku ponders his choice of a running mate between Okowa, Wike and Dickson, his major contender, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is gripped with the debate on a Muslim-Muslim ticket which has made his campaign and potential supporters to be on edge.

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