Brave Dickson
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers State, Boma Elymas has said that pride was behind the reason Governor Nyesom Wike was not picked as running mate to the party’s 2023 Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
After former Vice President, Abubakar emerged as the presidential flag bearer of the PDP, a panel was set up to help select who will be the vice presidential candidate of the party.
Three nominees were reported to have been put forward which include: Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State; Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa-Ibom State and Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State respectively.
But the presidential candidate of the party, Abubakar on Thursday announced Okowa as his running mate.
Abubakar made the announcement via his social media handles as saying that, “I am delighted to announce Governor Ifeanyi A. Okowa as my Vice Presidential candidate.
“I look forward to travelling our great country together, engaging with all Nigerians and building a shared future of peace, unity, and prosperity for all. As One We Can Get It Done. #OneNigeria.”
Reacting to the choice of Okowa over Wike, Elymas said, “the Rivers State Governor’s comments that he (Wike) can never be a second class citizen in his country may have looked like an attempt to belittle the office of the vice president.
“Wike in his comments had also sounded as though without him, the PDP can not win presidential election which the party may have perceived as an act of disloyalty to the party.”
Elymas further said no individual is superior to his political party, adding that PDP might have used what had played out in its presidential primary and picking of Abubakar’s running mate to make Wike understand a small lesson.
The chieftain was one of the 2023 House of Assembly aspirants
for the Okrika state constituency but was disqualified at the party’s clearance stage from contesting the primary.
Elymas accused Wike of using his political influence to unlawfully disqualify him from the race in favour of the governor’s preferred contestant.
He said, “Before I bought my form, some politicians in my area told me the forms have all been bought by the governor. That alone gave me the impression that there is an attempt to prevent me from contesting.
“I finally purchased my form in Abuja and was screened in Port Harcourt.
“During clearance, the screening committee brought up flimsy reasons which they used to disqualify me from being cleared.
“I got to our national secretariat in Abuja to register my complaints, the national organising secretary of our party told me that governor Wike was behind my disqualification.
“That was how I was unlawfully excluded from contesting my party’s primary.”
