Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan has said that Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike is too big to be running mate to Atiku Abubakar, the presidential standard-bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He said the governor should be the next in line to be president at the end of Atiku’s tenure.
Omokri, who featured on Arise Television’s morning show on Monday, said, “Governor Wike has told us in private and in also public that he’s never going to leave the party,” Omokri told Dr Reuben Abati and his crew.
“Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has called Governor Nyesom Wike our Jagaban and it’s true because the man has almost a larger-than-life image
“Governor Wike is even too big to become Vice president. I see him as somebody who would be President after Atiku Abubakar.
“This is a man who has charisma; who has the courage and would unify Nigeria. And as such a person, he understands the larger issues.”
Meanwhile, the party’s Board of Trustees (BOT) has set up a reconciliatory committee to meet with Governor Wike over the fallout of the party’s presidential primary and the crisis trailing the nomination of a running mate.
The committee which is to be headed by the former Vice President has 13 PDP governors as members.
Announcing the development on Sunday, the Chairman of the BOT, Senator Walid Jibril, said the visit to Wike would take place immediately after Atiku and the PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, return to the country from their vacation abroad.
“I have noted with a great concern and great sense of feeling on the various recent comments coming from some of our PDP members and some prominent Nigerians on the choice of Chief Okowa, the Governor of Delta State as the vice-presidential candidate by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of our Party PDP – the biggest party not only in Nigeria but the whole of Africa,” he said.
“All the comments and various submissions are very normal in any political setup in Nigeria today with PDP being the strongest and most prominent party that has all potential to form government in 2023.”
According to the BOT chairman, the reconciliatory committee will also comprise the party’s vice-presidential candidate, Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, as well as Ayu and members of the PDP National Working Committee.
Jibrin, who described the Rivers governor as a very responsible PDP member, appealed to party members in Rivers not to leave the party.
