After testing several ways, the only way I see to get MySQLI is thru FTP upload and install, choose MySQLI on the Abantecart install routine.
There doesn't seem to be any way to choose MySQLI on a Softaculous install. And I do not know how to call it after the install. My preference would be to use the Softaculous installer as it is much faster than FTP upload and has a couple of nice additional features. I am running all the correct versions to support MySQLI.
Any input into this would be great.
Thanks
Lee