Ifeanyi Okowa, the former vice presidential candidate for Atiku Abubakar in the general election of 2023, has expressed regret over accepting his nomination. According to Naija News, Okowa, who switched to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday, said he discovered during the campaign that the people of the South did not want a Northerner to succeed former President Muhammadu Buhari. In an interview with Arise News on Tuesday, the former governor of Delta State said that he would not have accepted his nomination if he had known.
I understood even during our campaign that our people had no interest in another Northerner taking over.
However, I had already been nominated, and the party had already made the choice at the federal level. However, looking back, I now feel that I ought to have followed my people’s wishes,” he stated.
As evidence for his claim, he pointed to the PDP’s defeat in the presidential election in Delta. He pointed out that Delta residents massively supported Sheriff Oborevwori, the PDP’s nominee for governor, who also switched to the APC on Monday.
“That showed the people still believed in us, believed in me. They said you’ve done well, and we will support the governor you have chosen. And they did,” he stated.
He dismissed reports that he joined the APC to halt the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) probe into his administration.
“I did well for the people of the state. Petitions can be written by anybody, but whatever petitions are written, the right of investigation is with the EFCC.
“So, there are no fears concerning that at all. And I have never spoken to Adams Oshiomole; we talked for the first time only yesterday because we are of different political parts and because we are of different political parts we were not friends per se,” he added.
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