Atiku vs Wike: Fresh Details Emerge of How State Delegates Voted at PDP Presidential Primary
- There is a new development regarding the role played by delegates in the geo-political zone of the country which aided Atiku Abubakar's emergence as PDP flagbearer in 2023
- According to reports, the delegates from other states who had pledged their support to the Sokoto state governor made supported Atiku after Governor Aminu Tambuwal made the last-minute move
- Meanwhile, Wike obtain 237 delegate votes behind Atiku who got 371 votes during Nigeria's main opposition party special convention on Saturday, May 28
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Fresh details have emerged on how the various state delegates voted at Saturday’s Special National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja, Premium Times report.
The primary produced former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the candidate of the opposition party for the 2023 presidential election.
Atiku polled 371 votes from the 767 accredited candidates to edge his closest opponent, Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, who polled 237 votes.
Source: Facebook
The votes cast by delegates explained
A last-minute withdrawal by Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, swung the contest in favour of Atiku as delegates from Tambuwal’s North-West stronghold and from other states where delegates had pledged their support to him all turned their votes to Atiku.
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North-West
The North-West geopolitical zone has seven states comprising Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto and Kaduna. Altogether, the states sent 193 delegates to the convention.
Mr Atiku won five of those states, except Kano where the loyalists of a former governor of the state, Rabiu Kwankwaso, gave their 44 votes to Mr Wike; and Katsina where the two frontrunners shared the votes.
North-Central
The six states in this zone; Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger and Plateau – were shared by Atiku, Wike, and former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who had a clean sweep of the votes of the delegates from Kwara, the state he hails from and governed for eight years.
North-East
The North-East geopolitical zone has six states, comprising Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe. Atiku is from Adawama and he won outright in four of the six states in his home zone, except Bauchi which went to homeboy Governor Bala Mohammed and Taraba which he shared with Wike.
The Governor Wike camp got pledges of huge votes from Gombe, Borno and Bauchi but the promises were not fulfilled. The leaders of the party and delegates from the states left the Rivers governor disappointed.
South-West
In this zone, votes in the six states of Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo were shared between Atiku, Wike and Saraki. The former vice president won in Ogun, Ondo and Lagos. Mr Saraki won in Osun. Wike, who also picked substantial votes from Lagos, won Oyo and Ekiti where he got the backing of Governor Seyi Makinde and former Governor Ayodele Fayose respectively.
The Wike camp had banked on Eyitayo Jegede, the PDP candidate in the last governorship election in Ondo state, to deliver the votes of delegates from the state. That did not happen and the Rivers governor’s people remain disappointed in the politician.
South-East
This geopolitical zone has five states – Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo. Atiku won in Anambra (with the support of Ben Obi, Chris Uba and other leading PDP politicians from the state) and Imo (with the support of Emeka Ihedioha). Wike won in Abia and Enugu through the support of Governors Okezie Ikpeazu and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi respectively. Former Senate President Pius Anyim won the votes of the delegates from his home Ebonyi state.
South-South
Wike won in three of the six states in his home zone. He won Rivers, Cross River and Edo. Although Wike had a public falling out with Edo Governor, Godwin Obaseki, he won the state because the governor’s adversary in the battle for the control of the PDP in the state, Dan Orbih, took his faction’s delegates to the convention and delivered them to the Rivers governor.
However, the delegates from Delta and Bayelsa ignored the governor of their neighbouring state, Mr Wike; and gave their votes to Atiku.
Governor Udom Emmanuel swept the votes of his delegates from Akwa Ibom to take his overall tally to 38.
PDP primary: Finally, Fayose congratulates Atiku, commends Wike’s consistency
In other news, the former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has congratulated Atiku Abubakar for winning the presidential primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party, held last week in Abuja.
Fayose was silent since the aftermath of the presidential election. However, he commended Governor Nyesom Wike, who came second in the election for being consistent in action and character.
Fayose, a presidential aspirant on the platform of the PDP, was among the two aspirants who failed to secure a single vote.
Source: Legit.ng
