Video: Atiku should go and visit Wike to heal the divisions in PDP – Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom

The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, on Wednesday, said his Rivers State counterpart, Nyesom Wike, and others who backed Wike for the Peoples Democratic Party vice-presidential ticket slot deserve a detailed explanation from the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

This as he also said he had resorted to fast and prayers to seek God’s direction after the emergence of Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as the running mate to Atiku ahead of Wike.

Ortom, who said this during an interview on Arise TV on Wednesday morning, said it was surprising that Atiku could jettison the recommendation of 14 out of 17 members of the committee that recommended Wike as his running mate.

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He said, “In arriving at the decision, I held wide consultations with various stakeholders in our party including our governors, the national working committee, board of trustees, and other leaders to seek their inputs and their wisdom.”

“In these consultations, I made clear that my running mate would have the potential to succeed me at a moment’s notice, that is, a president-in-waiting.

“In other words, the person must have the qualities to be President. The person must have an appreciation of the deep rot which our country has been put into by the rudderless APC (All Progressives Congress) government; understands the great suffering that most of our people are going through and the urgency of relieving them of that suffering; understands the critical importance of economic growth and development to provide our young people with jobs, hope, and a pathway to wealth.”

 Atiku’s choice of Okowa on Wednesday, Ortom said Wike deserved his current vacation in Turkey after what he went through.

He said though Okowa was not a bad choice, he believed Wike was the right man for the job owing to his character, capacity and intellect.

He said, “My friend Wike deserves the vacation after what he has gone through. Some of us believe he (Wike) has the capacity and Charisma to lift this country from bottom to top compared to what has been happening. We have been taken from the top in 2015 to the bottom since this present administration came into power.