Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike, has expressed delight over the defection of the 2023 vice presidential candidate of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
Wike said the defection of Okowa, and the incumbent Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, along with their supporters to the APC, had vindicated his (Wikes’s) stance on the 2023 PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
Recall that Okowa was Atiku’s running mate in 2023, while Wike, also of the PDP, openly declared his opposition against the PDP presidential project, citing injustice.
He had also voiced his strong opposition against the North producing the PDP presidential candidate while at the same time holding the position of the party’s National Chairman, arguing that it contradicted the party’s age-long zoning principles.
Wike led a group of five PDP Governor’s to work against Atiku’s presidential bid, and instead supported Ahmed Tinubu of the APC.
The former Rivers Governor even though a member of the PDP still, was later rewarded with a ministerial appointment by President Tinubu.
Reacting to Okowa’s dumping of the PDP, Wike in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, said he has now been vindicated, following his decision not to support Atiku in 2023.
The statement read in part: “It is another endorsement of the president’s good governance and commitment to the development of the country.”
Wike openly called on other Nigerians who are still sitting on the fence to throw in their support for President Tinubu in 2027.
The Minister described the open endorsement of President Tinubu by Atiku’s running mate in 2023 as a vindication of his position not to work for Atiku.
“This is a vindication of the position I took in 2023, which was based on the interest of a united Nigeria,” he said.
The statement further read: “I commend Dr Okowa and Governor Sheriff Oborevwori for this heart-warming decision, which must have been informed by good governance and commitment of President Bola Tinubu to the oneness and development of Nigeria.
“That is what I have always told people to come out and say, not when they have problems and begin to run up and down.
“They have come out at the right time to show support for the President so that the people of Niger Delta can benefit more from the government, and I commend them.
“I am particularly happy that what I saw before the 2023 presidential election, others are now seeing and are joining the Renewed Hope train.”
