‘Nobody should count me out I’m an Igbo man’ – Okowa
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Vice Presidential candidate and Delta state Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, has claimed that he is an Igbo man.
He said this during an interview on ARISE Television on Friday, June 17, 2022.
Okowa, who hails from an Igbo speaking area in Ika North Local Government of Delta in the South South region, said he’s qualified to be called an Igbo man because Igbo people cut across the country.
It was reports that Okowa was recently nominated by the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, as his running mate for the 2023 general election.
The Delta state Governor beat off stern competition from his Rivers and Akwa Ibom states colleagues, Nyesom Wike and Udom Emmanuel respectively, to clinch the VP slot.
However, Okowa has come under heavy criticism, especially from stakeholders and elders in the South-East, who have labeled him a betrayer for accepting Atiku’s nomination thereby truncating the possibility of an Igbo vice presidency.
Recall that Okowa had played host to a meeting of Southern governors across the two major political parties last year where it was agreed that power should return to the south after the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure in 2023.
Meanwhile, it has been speculated that the governor actively worked against the realisation of a southern presidency because of his ambition to become the vice president.
Reacting to the allegation, Okowa said while he’s aware of the clamour for the presidency to be zoned to the South-East, there was no agreement to zone the vice presidential slot to the region.
‘Nobody should count me out I’m an Igbo man’ – Okowa
He said his choice as VP nominee was strictly down to Atiku and the PDP who thought choosing him would bolster the party’s prospects of winning the 2023 election.
Asked if he qualified to be called an Igbo man, Okowa said, “For me, 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 look at Igbos across the country, I’m an Igbo man I can’t be counted out and that’s a true situation,” he said.
Pulse also reported that some elder statesmen including Chief Edwin Clark and Ayo Adebanjo have described the governor as a ‘traitor’ for accepting to be Atiku’s Vice Presidential candidate.
The leaders, under the aegis of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders’ Forum, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Afenifere, a socio-cultural organisation for the Yorubas, said Okowa should have turned down Atiku’s offer.
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