‘Our people not interested in having another northerner as President, I regret running with Atiku’ — Okowa

‘Our people not interested in having another northerner as President, I regret running with Atiku’ — Okowa 

 

 

Former Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has openly expressed regret over his decision to run as the vice-presidential candidate alongside Atiku Abubakar in the 2023 presidential election, citing a misalignment with the political sentiment in his home state.

 

Speaking during an interview on Arise Television, Okowa admitted that his choice to accept the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) nomination did not sit well with the people of Delta State, who, according to him, were opposed to the idea of another northern presidency following President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure.

 

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“Even when we were campaigning, I realised our people were not interested in having another northerner come into power,” Okowa said. “But the decision had already been taken at the federal level by the party, and I had been nominated. Still, in retrospect, I now believe I should have gone with the will of my people.”

 

The former governor’s reflection comes amid his recent defection from the PDP to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), a move that has attracted criticism from various quarters, including former Senate President Bukola Saraki.

 

Responding to Saraki’s comments, Okowa dismissed the criticism, arguing that Saraki lacked the moral authority to comment on defections due to his own history of switching parties.

 

“I did not expect that someone like Senator Bukola Saraki should be able to speak concerning me, because he knows that he had also moved to APC before and eventually returned,” he said. “So he has had movement to and fro. So, I don’t think that he has the moral right to even speak about my defection at all.”

 

Okowa further explained that the decision to leave the PDP was a carefully considered move, influenced by ongoing internal crises and what he described as a lack of direction within the party. He revealed that the decision was made collectively by key political stakeholders in Delta State.

 

“Several things have been going on in the party. While I do not want to join issues with people, as stakeholders, our leaders in this state have sat down to look at the events in the last several months,” he said.

 

He pointed to the leadership tussles and resistance to coalition-building among PDP governors as evidence of the party’s unpreparedness for future elections.

 

“Because of the events that we see and the communications coming out from the leadership of the PDP at the moment, it did not appear to us that that was a proper political vehicle for us to continue in,” he added.

 

Okowa’s remarks reflect deepening fractures within the PDP, as the party continues to struggle with internal cohesion and its strategic footing ahead of the 2027 general elections.