….PDP presidential candidate tips sitting governor for campaign DG
By Ishaya Ibrahim
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, would not be making the unilateral choice of who becomes his vice presidential running mate in the 2019 election, sources in his campaign office have told TheNiche.
Atiku emerged the PDP candidate at the party’s national convention on October 6, clinching 38 percent of the total delegate votes in a contest that featured 12 aspirants.
Our source said the wider PDP leadership would all make input on the choice of a vice presidential running mate for Atiku who is running on the PDP flag for the first time.
He said the choice of the person would be informed by what zone he or she is from, the electoral value of the person.
According to our source, the person must come from the zone that can give the party the biggest advantage in the presidential run.
The source added that though the odd favours the South East, the PDP will like to use the opportunity to take another look at the zoning of offices in line with geo-political spread of the country which the party believes strongly in.
While the choice of a vice presidential candidate is subject to consultation, there are indications that Atiku may have narrowed the pick for his campaign director general to a sitting governor.
Former governor of Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel superintended his campaign for the PDP presidential primary. A new role for Daniel and others are to be announced soon as Atiku expands the scope of his electioneering, the source said.