Okowa’s choice as running mate cost Atiku 2023 presidency – Moro

The Senate’s Minority Leader, Abba Moro, yesterday alleged that the choice of a former governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s running mate in the 2023 presidential election made the latter lose the poll.

Moro was reacting to Okowa’s statement that he regretted accepting to be Atiku’s running mate.

Okowa, who had on Monday formalised his defection along with Delta State governor Sheriff Oborevwori and the PDP structure in the state to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), made the remarks in an interview on Arise TV yesterday.

But Moro described Okowa’s remarks as “uncharitable”, saying the former governor willingly sought the position and should not now distance himself from the consequences of that decision.

He said in the first place, some people in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) felt disaffected that Okowa was picked as the party’s vice presidential candidate.

“Some people were of the opinion that there were others who had contributed more to the success of the party, who were more committed and would have helped the party win the election rather than pick him,” Moro said.

He noted that Okowa’s rise through the ranks of the PDP—from senator to governor—was made possible by the platform he now appears to be disavowing.

“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.

“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 judgment on the part of everybody that was involved in the choice of Okowa as the candidate,” Moro said.

He questioned Okowa’s inability to secure his home state for the PDP during the presidential election, noting that opposition parties gained significant ground in Delta despite Okowa’s stature.

“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?

“And to think that two out of the three senators from that state are from the opposition party, and I can tell you that one person may have won that election purely on his own merit, because of his pedigree and his contributions to the community,” he said.

On the PDP’s chances of mounting a credible challenge against President Tinubu and the APC in the 2027 elections, Moro said the political landscape remained fluid and unpredictable.

“One day in politics is like decades,” he noted, adding that things were happening so rapidly that they defy imagination and comprehension, even among seasoned political actors and that the same kind of rapid shift could work in favour of the PDP.

He pointed to recent efforts by the party’s leadership as evidence that the PDP is not crumbling, despite high-profile defections.

“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.

According to Moro, the PDP still commands deep loyalty across the country.

“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,” he said.

In his interview on Arise Television, Okowa said he regretted running alongside Atiku in the 2023 presidential election, saying it contradicted the sentiments of his constituents in the South.

He said the South had expected that power should return to the region after President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Okowa said aligning with a northern candidate hurt his standing at home.

“The issue regarding the presidential election in 2023 was a question of north-south politics. The people of the South were likely interested in a southerner becoming president after Buhari’s tenure.

“Yes, I ran under my party as vice-presidential candidate because I belonged to that political family, and at that time, it was the best choice. But I realised, even during the campaign, that our people were not interested in another northerner coming into power in 2023, and that became a major factor for me,” he said.

He said that while the choice had been made at the federal level and he had already been nominated as the PDP’s vice-presidential candidate, he later realised that he was out of sync with public opinion.

“So what happened was a question of, ‘Oh, I did not seem to follow the path and the thoughts of the people.’ I have advised myself that it is important that I need to go with the people—not because I want to believe in north-south politics—but generally, when you are a politician playing politics, the views of your people matter,” he said.

Okowa stated that the outcome of the presidential election in Delta State, where he lost, was evidence of public disapproval.

“From the views of our people, which were expressed in the presidential election in 2023, that is why I have also told you that I believe that in 2027, our people are still going to go for a southern candidate because they believe that it is still the turn of the South, and I need to align with the views of my people,” he stated.

He noted that although he lost Delta State in the presidential poll, the PDP won the governorship election three weeks later, highlighting the choice voters made between his candidacy and that of the party at the state level.

Reacting to criticisms against his decision to leave the PDP, Okowa dismissed concerns about political morality, arguing that the PDP had strayed from its founding principles.

“The PDP that we had from the beginning, the PDP that we thought we tried to build… yes, the PDP was useful to me, but I was also a player in the PDP from the beginning, from the formative stage.

“But that PDP that was formed in 1998 does not appear to me to be the same PDP that we are running at the moment.

“When you are tired of what is going on, and you do not seem to understand what is going on in a place that you call home, then you probably have to step out and find another home,” Okowa said.

Atiku’s media adviser, Paul Ibe, dismissed Okowa’s assertion, insisting there had been no change in the former vice president’s status within the PDP.

“We had issued a statement to that effect where His Excellency addressed that issue (defecting from the PDP). So, I don’t know where that (Okowa’s claim) is coming from,” Ibe told Daily Trust on Tuesday.

Pressed further on Okowa’s reference to direct communication with Atiku, Ibe responded that any such conversation must have occurred some time ago and had been addressed by the April 4 statement.

“What I am saying is that His Excellency had issued a statement to that effect, addressing that particular issue. So, that statement remains; irrespective of what anybody may be saying,” he said.

Ibe shared the April 4 statement, which was titled ‘Reports of Atiku Abubakar’s resignation from PDP are malicious lies and a political hatchet job.’ In the statement, Atiku denied resigning from the PDP.

“His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President of Nigeria (1999–2007) and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has not – we repeat, has not–resigned from the PDP,” the statement read.

“He remains a steadfast, bona fide and loyal member of the party.”

The statement accused unnamed political actors of orchestrating the rumour to destabilise Atiku’s base.

“The source of this baseless rumour is a Facebook page peddling falsehoods… a calculated attempt to mislead the public and sow discord among the millions of Nigerians who look to Atiku Abubakar for direction and leadership,” it stated. “This is not just fake news – it is a crude, shameless political hatchet job.”