Atiku has reached out to me to persuade Wike for discussion – Ortom

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state has disclosed that presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar has reached out to him to persuade Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state to come in for a discussion. 

Recall that Ortom had hinted that Wike’s issue with Atiku stemmed from the presidential candidate picking Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state as his running mate even though 14 out of 17 members of a PDP panel had preferred the Rivers governor as the party’s vice-presidential candidate.

Speaking in an interview with Arise TV on Thursday July 21, Ortom disclosed that after Atiku has “reached out to him to further persuade governor Wike that he’s coming to see him”. 

He added that they’ll sit down and discuss, and once that is done, that is the end of it. Ortom said; 

“Some of us believe in a southern presidency. We thought Wike would be the right person to get the ticket but he did not get it.

“Then the issue of vice-presidency came. I was one of the people that were able to convince Wike that ‘half a loaf is better than none; you wanted to be president, but God did not make it happen; there’s nothing wrong in asking to be the vice-president.’ Unfortunately, this did not work.

“I think that the leadership of the party needed to do the needful by reaching out to him immediately to pacify him. That is what happens in every political setting, because in the end, you need everybody to be around you.

“We look forward that the leadership of the party will do the needful to bring all of us together. Our presidential candidate has reached out to me to further persuade governor Wike that he’s coming to see him, they’ll sit down and discuss. For me, once that is done, that is the end of it.

“I believe that working together with governor Wike, we can achieve a better result for our party, the PDP. And so, I believe that our presidential candidate will reach out to Wike, and once they discuss and he’s pacified, I will also be pacified.”