Ayu: Why PDP leaders picked Okowa as Atiku’s running mate

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Sen. Iyorchia Ayu, says the leadership of the PDP picked Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, as the party’s vice-presidential candidate to reward the state for the contribution to the party.

Ayu also described Okowa a “calm, articulate, and brilliant” politician, saying he the governor was picked with the approval of the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

The former Senate President said this during the inauguration the Ogheye Floating Market in the Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State on Wednesday.

“When we recognised as a party, the sterling contributions of Governor Okowa – his character as a calm, articulate and brilliant young man – we, the leadership of the party decided that Delta State has to be rewarded because Delta State has produced several outstanding governors and this one (Okowa), in particular, we felt should be promoted upstairs and therefore, we selected him with the approval of our presidential candidate as the next vice president of Nigeria,” Ayu stated.

The PDP chairman further urged the people of the state to vote out the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general election, saying: “The destruction that the APC government has done in this country has taken us back 50 years.

“And we need to recover and rebuild our country; we can’t do it without your support,” he added.

The Star recalls that Ayu has been at loggerheads with Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, since Atiku emerged as the PDP presidential candidate in May 2022.

Many had expected Wike, who came second in the party’s presidential primaries, to be chosen as the party’s vice-presidential candidate but Atiku opted for Okowa.

Wike and his allies, Governors Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu),
known as G5, have since then been demanding the resignation of Ayu as a condition for them to campaign for Atiku.

They argued that the all top positions in the party are being occupied by northerners, stressing that Ayu, who is from the North-Central must resign as a concession to the South.

The Star