Wike called me 19 times in two hours to beg Atiku to make him PDP VP candidate - Dino alleges

Dino Melaye has revealed that Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State begged him to persuade Atiku Abubakar to make him the vice presidential candidate of the party going into the 2023 presidential elections.

Dino made the revelation when he spoke in an interview with AIT on Tuesday, April 11.

According to him, the Rivers State governor was only fighting Atiku because the latter chose Gov Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate despite entreaties from Wike.


After losing the party's presidential primaries last year, Wike had refused to work with the party’s candidate, saying the embattled chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu, should step aside.

Wike, in collaboration with other four governors had insisted that they would not allow the candidate of the party and the PDP chairman to be northerners.

Melaye alleged that Wike called him about 19 times in two hours, appealing to him to convince Atiku to announce him as the vice presidential candidate.

He added that the refusal of the former Vice President to yield to Wike’s request brought about the plot against him in the just concluded February 25 presidential election.

Melaye was reacting to a comment by Wike that the former senator would never be the governor of Kogi State.

“Wike has no iota of integrity. Wike was calling me when Atiku Abubakar was to announce his running mate. I have records and I’m going to print them out. I’m waiting for him. He called me 19 times in two hours, begging us to convince Atiku Abubakar to make him the vice presidential candidate.

“He was at the airport. I have the video. He spent hours in the airport waiting for me to call him that Atiku Abubakar has picked him as the running mate. He was at the airport here waiting, calling me. I have witnesses. He was begging, promising heaven and earth that Atiku should announce him. It was around 1 or so that I called him that, Oga, nobody go give you vice president. That’s when he left and flew back.”