Following the landslide victory of Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, GCON as the flag bearer of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), information available to us reveal that the jostling for who will be his running mate has reached fever-pitch.
According to sources close to Atiku, he has referred the question of who will be his running mate to the party elders to decide. This, many believe, would serve to heal any wounds that may have arisen from his landslide victory over Governor Aminu Tambuwal who had been enjoying the unhinged support of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and the state delegates loyal to him.
There are many eminent PDP members across the country who are qualified for the role but discussions with top PDP apparatchiks at the venue of the just concluded PDP National Convention revealed that the front runners for the position of Vice Presidential candidate are Chief Gbenga Daniels, Governor Nyesom Wike, Dr Peter Obi, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Gov Seriake Dickson and Gov Ayodele Fayose.
Chief Gbenga Daniels is a former two-term Governor of Ogun State and the Director General of the Atiku Campaign Organization who was able to garner the delegates from the south west states, except Ekiti State delegates, to deliver block votes for Atiku at the primaries.
He is believed to be more suited for the job as he would be able to reduce the votes to and the dominance of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the south west states. He would also balance the influence of the current Vice President to President Buhari who is also from Ogun State.
Gov Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State was the only Governor that openly supported Atiku and mobilized support from fellow PDP Governors, in direct opposition to people like Wike who publicly supported Tambuwal.
Governor Dickson’s unalloyed support for ATIKU also contributed to Atiku’s recent victory as the presidential candidate of the PDP. Dickson has been a stabilizing factor in the Niger Delta and is widely accepted as a grassroots politician with strong ties with the Yorubas being that his grandmother is from Ogun State.
