Okowa and Atiku
Senate Minority Leader, Abba Moro, says it is “uncharitable” and “self-serving”, for former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to say that he regretted accepting to be running mate to Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, stating that he was not forced but lobbied for it.
Reacting to Dr. Okowa’s recent statement to this effect when he appeared on Politics Today on Channels Television, the former minister of Interior posited that the party was later to realise with hindsight that it made an error of judgement to have picked him, adding that some of them felt with another candidate from the South, the PDP would have won the election.
Newsmata reports that Okowa, the medical doctor turned politician who formally dumped the PDP alongside Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and the entire PDP structure for the All Progressives Congress (APC) last Wednesday, had in an interview on Arise TV regretted being Atiku’s running mate.
However, a disappointed Senator Moro insisted that Okowa had actively lobbied for the vice-presidential nomination and should take responsibility for its fallout.
According to him, “It’s unfortunate today that at his level, having been a senator and governor before on the platform of the PDP, I think it’s uncharitable for him to be expressing regret about being the party’s running mate. He was not forced. He asked for it, and he was given.”
He said “With the hindsight that we have now, some of us think that the party would have won the election if another candidate — other than Okowa — had been picked as the vice-presidential candidate from the South.
“I think there was an error of judgement on the part of everybody that was involved in the choice of Okowa as the candidate.”
Lamenting that opposition parties made major inroads in Delta State, with the PDP losing significant ground even with Okowa on the ticket, a miffed senate minority whip wondered “How else will you characterise this scenario— that a sitting governor, a former senator, and vice-presidential candidate couldn’t deliver his state, even to the presidential candidate?
“Two out of the three senators from that state are from the opposition party.”
Reflecting on Okowa’s political journey, Moro emphasised that having benefited from the PDP throughout his political career, he should not now disavow the party.
“He rose from senator to governor under the PDP, and it’s on that same platform he became a vice-presidential candidate. You don’t eat from a plate and turn around to break it,” he said.
Moro did not however agree with speculations that the recent gale of defections marks the collapse of the PDP, expressing optimism about the party’s chances in the 2027 general elections. He believed that the political tides could shift dramatically.
“One day in politics is like decades,” Moro observed. “Things are happening so rapidly that they defy imagination and comprehension. That same rapid shift can work in favour of the PDP.”
While expressing the commitment of the PDP leadership to revitalising the party ahead of the next electoral cycle, Senator Moro recalled that “Just about 72 hours ago, the chairmen of the PDP in the 36 states and the FCT met and reaffirmed their commitment to mobilising and galvanising support for the party, especially in light of what has happened in Delta State”.
He said despite recent setbacks, the PDP retains strong roots and loyal followers nationwide.
“There are individuals within the party whose body and soul remain committed to the PDP, and who are willing to make sacrifices and go to great lengths to rebuild the party.
“If the rebuilding effort meets the expectations for 2027, so be it. If it doesn’t, the PDP remains an integrated political brand that cuts across all segments of Nigerian society. It will not be easily broken.”
During the recent meeting of the PDP Governors’ Forum in Ibadan, the governors ruled out the possibility of the party joining any coalition of any group or political party to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027.