Fresh facts on the emergence of the Atiku –Okowa presidential ticket and the role of the Wike-led camp in truncating the zoning of the presidential ticket to the South-East have emerged.
Party sources told Vanguard that ahead of the 2023 presidential primaries there was a quiet plan to cede the presidency to the South-East with Peter Obi and Anyim Pius Anyim among the South-East contenders being positioned by party elders.
Atiku, after his 2019 loss, it was gathered, was considering passing over the 2023 campaign and was believed to be positioning Obi for support.
Joining Atiku in backing Obi as running mate in 2019 were Governor Okowa, Governor Godwin Obaseki and former Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
According to the permutations, Saraki would have been running mate to Obi.
It was based on this permutation that Senator Okowa, it was gathered, was preparing himself for a return to the Senate with a principal office in view.
Backing Anyim were Governor Aminu Tambuwal and his political soul-mate, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha. Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State was also in this camp. Tambuwal, it was gathered, would serve as Anyim’s running mate that would have seen two former presiding officers of the National Assembly running on a joint ticket.
The Atiku-led coalition in the bid to strengthen Obi had proposed that the National Secretary of the party that was zoned to the South-East would come from Anambra State.
However, it was at that point that the Governor Wike camp which was also preparing for the presidency entered the fray and upturned the proposal and brought forward Senator Samuel Anyanwu.
A source familiar with how it played out told Vanguard that: “Remember that Peter Obi, Ihedioha, and Achike Udenwa refused and asked that the position of secretary should go to the appropriate place mentioned, but Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and Okezie Ikpeazu refused.
“Of course you know that they are the only two governors of the PDP in the South-East, their choice will not be easy to reject,” one source informed at the weekend.
The Wike camp was able to take the slot from Peter Obi because of the two sitting governors from the zone were aligned to the Rivers State governor.
That move, it was gathered, was the beginning of the distress that Obi faced from his brother governors from the South-East.
Initially, Atiku was said not to be enthusiastic towards running in 2023 but pressures were mounted on him through friends led by two former senators, one from the South-South and another from Bauchi State. A popular broadcast mogul was also in the shadows urging Atiku to run.
“After 2019, Oga had exhausted much of his money and he was not really inclined towards running again, but we kept on mounting pressure on him that he was the only one who could stop Wike,” the source involved in the process said on Sunday.
Besides fighting off Obi, the Wike camp also was able to pre-empt the Governor Sam Ortom led committee from zoning the presidency to the South-East or North-East as many party enthusiasts had envisaged.
“You can see that Ortom is part of Wike’s camp and the whole plot was to throw it open so that Wike can come in and that was what they did exactly,” the source revealed.
Meanwhile, the attitude of the South-East governors frustrated several party elders.
Okowa, who hosted the Southern Governors retreat where the resolution for a Southern presidential candidate was adopted, was also said to have become frustrated by the antics of his fellow Southern governors, especially given his own soft spot for Obi.
It was about this time that Okowa now appeared to form a partnership with Atiku and dumped his senate bid to work with Atiku for the 2023 presidency.
The act of the Wike camp, it was gathered underscored the reason none of the South-South governors, including Obaseki who he (Wike) chaired his campaign refused to back him even when it came to the issue of vice-presidential slot.
Another source, privy to the development told the newspaper that: “You would remember that initially no PDP governor was backing Atiku, but things changed when they realised that the only person who could stop Wike was Atiku and that was why they gravitated towards him. If you don’t know, there were also signs that Atiku had encouraged Obi to run, but all that changed with the attitude of the Wike camp.’
“That is why you should not blame Atiku for the zoning issue or even Okowa as having betrayed the South.”
