Sunday Okobi
The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Iyorchia Ayu, yesterday stated that the Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, is the most qualified running mate to their presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
The party leader said they looked around and found out that Okowa was the one to assist Atiku in delivering good dividends to Nigerians.
His comment was coming on the heels of an unrest in the party with Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, taunting the party leadership over its structure.
But speaking at the Northern Christian Youth Assembly Summit with the theme: ‘Unifying Nigeria: The Role of Northern Christian Youths And Women’, held in Abuja, Ayu said Okowa was selected because of his humbleness.
He said: “We looked around and we thought we have to give not just a vice president that will assist him (Atiku) but we did our homework to select a young man who is highly educated, very humble, and who has done very well as a governor in his home state.
“Okowa is the most qualified running mate. It is on his own personal merit that he was selected by the party as the vice presidential candidate to Atiku Abubakar. I think Nigeria will be very lucky to have two such people who are committed to development who are detribalised who believe in uniting this country.
“What you are doing is a service to humanity. If you give them your support and you mobilise the rest of Nigerians to support, I believe we can salvage this country and make a difference.”
Also speaking, Okowa told the youths that with their support, they are going to win the 2023 election.
Okowa said they would be receiving many defectors into the PDP, adding that people are keying into the Atiku/Okowa project.
The vice presidential candidate, who commended the group for organising the meeting to discuss Nigeria’s challenges on the pathway to finding solutions, added that it is the hallmark of those who think and use their brains.
He said: “PDP will win the election because many people have keyed into this project. We are receiving decampees in drops. When we talk about the future is for the youths, yes it is actually from today but the real truth is, our youths, particularly youths leaders must be in position to have a clear understanding so that they are able to guide others aright because if you have a leadership that is not able to provide that true leadership of guiding people aright and people begin to think in the wrong way, you create further problems rather than finding solutions and we go the wrong path.
“We are going to see bullying in the cyber space of our country. I think that everybody should have his space, time to be able to think, make comments without being bullied. We need to do critical thinking and that is why we are gathered here today.
“The topic for the event is key because it talks about unifying Nigeria. This is instructive because there is strength in our diversity but that will only be when we are able to unite ourselves.”
Okowa added: “I personally do not believe in the Muslim -Muslim tickets. The reason is that there is diversity when it comes to that. Therefore, sticking to one faith is not a good thing to do particularly in a troubled nation as we are in today. It’s almost like going on to having the presidential candidate pick his vice presidential candidate from the north and picking the vice presidential candidate also from the North.
“So, the only ticket that can work for our Nigeria is the ticket that is not trying to build itself to election victory to either the Muslim or Christian faith.”
