Since Atiku Knew He Would Pick Okowa, He Shouldn’t Have Bothered Us With Selection Process- Gov. Ortom 

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State seems not to have come to term with the decision of PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar to settle for Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as his running mate.

Since the emergence of Okowa as vice presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party ahead of Nyesom Wike, there has been criticisms and bad blood within the party especially at the leadership level.

Samuel Ortom of Benue State is one of the Party leaders who is not happy with the choice of Okowa and has refused to hide his feelings about it.

The governor made his appearance on the Thursday edition of Channels TV Politics Today where he spoke on myriad of challenges facing the party and what the former vice president of Nigeria is doing wrong that can threaten his chances at the poll in 2023.

Ortom disclossed that he was among the 17- man committee set up to select the running mate for the presidential candidate.

He said the committee was set up immediately Atiku emerged as the party candidate at the primary election.

According to him, three serving Governors from the South South were shortlisted for the position. They are Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom.

He explained that 14 out of 17 members of Committee chose Wike as the right man for the job and his name was presented to Atiku Abubakar. They were later shocked to hear that Atiku turned around to pick Okowa contrary to their choice.

He said there were so many things they considered before choosing Wike. In terms of capacity to deliver on election day, Wike is unmatchable. He is a committed party leader and a bridge builder who knows how to unite aggrieved members.

He said these and many other things were all they considered before arriving at his selection. But unfortunately, Atiku has his preferred candidate among the three of them.

He however said Atiku should not have bothered them in the first place since he knew he already had someone in mind.

The governor said he abandoned his primary responsibilities as a governor in his state to do the assignment and deliver the result but at the end, it was a mere waste of time.

Governor Ortom expressed his disatisfaction on Thursday on the live Channels TV programme.