By Felix Ekwu
Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar has unveiled Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate.
Atiku eventually settled for Okowa instead of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, who on Tuesday was widely reported to be the one recommended by the Advisory Committee set up by the PDP to select a running mate for its presidential flag bearer.
Okowa was announced and unveiled by Atiku as his running mate on Thursday at the PDP National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital city.
Sources say Atiku finally chose Okowa as his choice because Wike’s recommendation by the party’s committee constituted for the purpose did not go down well with most leaders of the party particularly those from the north.
A dependable source also told NewsNet Nigeria that Okowa would not have emerged as Atiku’s VP if not for former Governor James Ibori, who in the dying minutes succumbed to pressure and appeals from different levels of the party to allow his political ‘godson’ to have it.