BY FOLASHADE KEHINDE
PRESIDENTIAL candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, on Friday, said former President Olusegun Obasanjo had no better presidential candidate to support than himself.
The former Vice-President, under the Obasanjo administration, however, noted that he had not gone to visit the former president after he emerged the PDP candidate but that he had been talking with him.
He spoke in an interview with Arise TV monitored by our correspondent.
“Why will I not need his support? He was my former boss. Of course I will need his support. I assume I have it, he said, adding that he still had the intention to continue Obasanjo’s legacy.
On the aggrieved members of the party, the PDP presidential candidate said stakeholders were already working on reconciliation with Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.
He also noted that he had also been in touch with him, adding that there was no cause for concern.
“We are reaching out to Governor Wike and we are talking with him and I believe very soon, we will find a reconciliation. We are talking to his governor colleagues also. I am very optimistic that we are going to resolve our internal crisis and move on,” Atiku stated.
Explaining how Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State emerged as his running mate and debunking reports that the majority had voted for Wike, Atiku said, “The committee that was set up at my own instance deliberated. They recommended three names because they knew it was my prerogative to pick anyone of the three. There was actually no vote.
“Governor Ortom himself chaired that committee. He knew that there was no vote and I have the report of that committee. The committee recommended three people and I picked one. I did not go out of that recommendation. So, I think people should be fair to me and should also state the fact.”
Wike had polled 237 in the PDP presidential primary that threw up Atiku as the candidate with 371 votes.
