Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta, says it would have been a
“disservice” if he had rejected the nomination for him to be the
vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Okowa spoke on Thursday in an interview with Channels
Television.
On June 16, Atiku Abubakar, PDP presidential candidate,
named Okowa as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election.
Reacting to the development, the southern and middle belt
leaders’ forum (SMBLF) criticised Okowa for accepting the nomination, and
described the Delta governor’s decision as “betrayal”.
Prior to the PDP presidential primary, the SMBLF had
insisted that political parties must zone their presidential tickets to the
south, and also warned southern politicians against accepting vice-presidential
candidate slots.
Speaking on the comment of the SMBLF, Okowa said his
decision to accept the vice-presidential candidate slot is because of his
loyalty to the party.
“First, I want to appreciate the elders for the comment they
have made. There is no doubt that they are entitled to their opinions that they
have rendered to our people,” he said.
“I don’t want to join issues with our elders because they will
have reasons to make the comments they have made, depending on the information
available to them at a particular point in time.
“I belong to a political party and that party is PDP. I have
committed myself to the party and I remain a party member till today. As a
party man, I am governed by the rules of the party. I am governed by the policy
direction of the party, and have committed to being a member of that party. It
is only right that my obedience is to the party and also the people of this
country.
“To that extent, if my party, in a national executive
committee meeting, takes a decision following the recommendation of a committee
that they will throw the presidential race open for the best to emerge, and we
did go into the convention and alhaji Atiku Abubakar emerged, it is only fair
that if he is from the north and he is a Muslim, a Christian from the south
should be his running mate.
“It would have been a disservice on my part to have turned
down the vice-presidential nomination because I’m a party man to the core, and
the only decision I can make at this point in time is to support my party to
win the elections.
“I’m very much
confident of the fact that the PDP has a role to play in rescuing this nation
and rebuilding this nation for the future. I think the decision I did take is
in consonance with the wishes of a large majority of our people in the PDP.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com