2023: ‘I’m Entitled To My Views’ — Okowa Replies Edwin Clark, Adebanjo, Others On ‘Betrayal’ Allegation

– I’m An Igbo Man, Nobody Can Count Me Out – Okowa

– I Sympathize With South-East, Delta Governor Says

Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, has responded to the allegation of betrayal levelled against him by the quartet of Edwin Clark, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Dr. Dru Bitrus and Professor George Obiozor over his acceptance of his nomination as Atiku Abubakar’s vice-presidential running mate.

Clark, who is the leader of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum and Adebanjo who heads the apex Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, had in a joint statement on Friday slammed Governor Okowa for allegedly betraying the calls for Igbo Presidency by agreeing to be paired as Atiku’s running mate.

President-Generals of the Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide and the Middle Belt Forum, Obiozor and Bitrus, had also appended their signatures to the statement which described Okowa’s action as “treacherous and tantamount to a despicable pawning of the political future of the people of Southern Nigeria”

Speaking under the aegis of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders’ Forum, they accused the Delta State Governor of exhibiting “barefaced unreliability” as his acceptance of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) VP slot allegedly contradicts their previous agreement that the presidency should rotate to the South in 2023 “based on the principles of fairness, equity and justice”.

But reacting during an Arise TV interview monitored by THE WHISTLER on Friday, Okowa said while he respects the Southern and Middle Belt leaders’ opinions, he is entitled to his own views.

He said, “I want to respect our leaders, I believe that they have their opinions. I do also believe that they are well meaning leaders, so I don’t want to join issues with them. But the important thing is that I belong to a political party and I was part of the decisions of the political party and we did agree that the best pathway for us to rescue this nation and to rebuild this nation was to throw open the presidential race in our party.

“I had submitted myself to be a politician, to belong to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and ruled by the policy of that party as it is. And since we had all committed to the fact that we wanted to throw the presidential candidacy open, Atiku Abubakar, the former vice president did emerge.

“The Onus for us is to support him to win. We were not expecting to have a candidate from the north and also have a vice president from the north. That will lead to further division in this country, and we are talking about rebuilding this country, rebuilding our unity and to a large extent, we had to make the right decisions. And within our party, I think that having submitted myself to be a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, I would have to submit myself to the decisions of the party and that was what has happened.

“That does not mean that it is disrespectful to the views of those leaders, they are leaders that I respect so much but under this condition, they have to understand that I have committed myself to the Peoples Democratic Party as a politician. If I’m not a politician, it may be different but I am a politician and I’m entitled to my views, I’m entitled to play along with the rest of the party because it is collective decision and I want to appeal to them that they need to actually look at the issues as it is and understand that, yes, while we are making our comment as it concerns Nigeria, at this time that we have crisis within the nation, the rebuilding process means that we need to rebuild confidence. And in rebuilding confidence, we need to be very cautious about the stands that we take, we need to be very cautious about what we do.”

While admitting that there were agitations that power should shift to the South, especially the South East, at the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s 8-year tenure, the governor said he was not aware that the South East demanded the VP position.

Okowa recalled that the PDP had thrown open its presidential ticket, adding that since Atiku who is a northern emerged as the party’s presidential candidate, there was no way the VP slot would also go to the North.

He further noted that although he hails from the South-South region, he is an Igbo man by virtue of the fact that he is from the Igbo-speaking part of the state.

“In the first instance, we have had various groups of persons agitating for the presidency. I do know that the South East actually said, yes, it is their turn to be president of this nation. I’m not aware that the South East directly came out to agitate for the Vice Presidency.

“And looking at the structure in this nation, we generally talked about the North and the South but going deeper into the fact that we have geopolitical zones, we do realize that there are two particular geopolitical zones that feel shortchanged, the North East geopolitical zone where the former vice president, our candidate Atiku Abubakar is from, and then the South East geopolitical zone that has actually told Nigerians that it appears that these two geopolitical zones have been short changed because no son from these two zones have been been president of this nation. They obviously have a point and we sympathize with them. And I believe also that since one of us has emerged from the North East at this point in time, it is a good sign for the future that if the North East has the opportunity, then it is a good sign that the South East will have the opportunity because at the next point in time, what we would be talking about is that the South East itself is the only zone that is left and they lay claim to it.

“For me, yes I’m from Delta State, but I’m definitely an Igbo man, there’s no doubt about that. I’m from Delta State in the South-South, but if you’re looking at Igbos across the country, I’m an Igbo man, I can’t be counted out and that is a true situation. So, the issue of the Vice Presidency has not been on the debate on where it should go. It’s actually premised on the fact that when the presidential candidate emerges, he looks for what possible zone and what possible person can work with him and what can be part of the team that can make us actually succeed. I’m just a lucky person that being from the South South, I’m also an Igbo man and to that extent I fit into all the divides because I’m part of my brothers in the South East and I’m also part of the South-South but that does not stop the agitation in the future for Igbos to be president of this country,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Southern and Middle Belt  leaders had in their statement said it was “… most unfortunate that the Governor of Delta State, Senator  Ifeanyi Okowa who should know better, accepted his appointment as running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. We do not have anything personal against  Ifeanyi Okowo but his action is treacherous and tantamount to a despicable pawning of the political future of the people of Southern Nigeria.

“Sadly, it is also now common knowledge that he spent extensive sum of money to lobby for the position. And that explains why he never made any statement when his party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), thoughtlessly jettisoned the zoning principle, which has become established as a norm and an intrinsic part of the nation’s political trajectory.

“It is difficult to fathom how a political party can claim to be on a supposed “rescue mission” with such false footings of unfairness, injustice, duplicity and gross insensitivity to national outlook.

“It is regrettable that while most of Governor Okowa’s southern and northern counterparts have maintained gallant, patriotic deference to the unity and peace of the country, above blinkered political considerations, by their resolute stance on the rotation of the presidency to the south in 2023, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, the Chairman of the South-South Governors’ Forum, of all people, would gullibly and slavishly capitulated to the bonbon of absurdity. Thus, acceding to a situation whereby, one person rules for eight years and hands over to another of his stock, in a country of at least 360 ethnic groups. What a shame!

“The people of southern Nigeria chimed at Asaba, Lagos, Enugu, Uyo, Port Harcourt, Umuahia, and Abuja, continuously, on the zoning of the presidency and warned that another northern presidency, after the eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari, would be injurious to the unity and peace of the country.

“Governor Okowa has, by his action, betrayed the trust reposed on him by his colleagues; the southern governors, the entire good people of southern Nigeria and all well-meaning Nigerians. He has made himself persona non grata, not only, with SMBLF but all citizens who treasure our oneness and yearn for a more united and peaceful Nigeria.

“We, therefore, reject Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and his Vice Presidency, and leave him to his lot, but let the world know that this is a betrayal of the highest order.

“And that this is not a matter of loyalty to one’s political party, but rather a greedy, parochial and unpatriotic action, committed against the general interest of his State, Delta state, the Niger Delta region, and Southern Nigeria. It is, certainly, also not in the interest of the nation at large.

“We commend the patriotism of all Nigerians who cherish our unity and progress as a country and further urge all such Nigerians; in the North and the South; young and mature, the high and mighty; irrespective of religion and tribe, to remain steadfast on the centrality of the presidency rotating to the South in 2023, in the national interest.”