Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state may have backtracked on his earlier stance on the candidacy of Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) amid the months-long crisis rocking Nigeria’s main opposition party.
Ortom, who had earlier said he was still praying on whether or not to support Atiku in 2023, on Monday said his preferred presidential candidate for the forthcoming election still remains Atiku.
Ortom was among the aggrieved PDP Governors, who had expressed dissatisfaction over the emergence of Atiku and his choice of a running mate. But the Governor has now turned around to say the issue in the party is now a thing of the past, adding that he is ready to support Atiku in the 2023 presidential election.
Ortom made known on Monday on his official Twitter handle.
He tweeted: “I will not contradict@atiku on what he said. He is my candidate and I am behind him.
“Whatever happened in the course of the primaries and nomination of the Presidential running mate is now a thing of the past. PDP is a family, and we will always settle our matters in-house.”
It would be recalled that Ortom, shortly after Atiku chose Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state, demanded for an explanation on why he ignored Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state and other stakeholders in the party as he jettisoned the recommendation of 14 out of 17 members of the committees that recommended the Rivers state governor as the Vice-Presidential candidate of the party.
“Some of us believe that Wike has the capacity but Nigerians or let me say the PDP people did not give him the opportunity. Some of us rooted for him. I was amongst the 17-member committee that was set up by the candidate himself and the party and some of us said that for the vice presidency of the party, we needed Wike to be the vice president so that he can bridge the gap.
“We (the committee) said it does not matter whether he supported the presidential candidate or not, all we are looking for is unity and how we can make things work. Unfortunately, it was said that it is Governor Ifeanyi Okowa who is also a PDP member. And that is the wisdom of the presidential candidate.
“Some of us have resorted back to prayers because I am really confused. I felt that Wike would have been the vice-presidential candidate of the party after losing the presidential ticket to Atiku. He was the second person to Atiku and Wike has the charisma,” Ortom had earlier said before his u-turn on Monday.
