I regret running with Atiku in 2023 – Okowa

Ifeanyi Okowa, a former Delta State governor has admitted he regretted his decision to run as the vice-presidential candidate alongside Atiku Abubakar in the 2023 presidential election.

Speaking during an interview with Arise Television on Tuesday, Okowa admitted that the idea contradicted zoning and wishes of his people.

The former chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party added that his state and supporters were against another northerner succeeding former president Muhammadu Buhari.

He also slammed former Senate President Bukola Saraki for criticising his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress.

Okowa said: “Even when we were campaigning, I realised our people were not interested in having another northerner come into power.

“But the decision had already been taken at the federal level by the party (PDP) and I had been nominated. Still, in retrospect, I now believe I should have gone with the will of my people.

“I did not expect that someone like Senator Bukola Saraki should be able to speak concerning me, because he knows that he had also moved to APC before and eventually returned.

“So he has had movement to and fro. So, I don’t think that he has the moral right to even speak about my defection at all.

“Several things have been going on in the party. While I do not want to join issues with people, as stakeholders, our leaders in this state have sat down to look at the events in the last several months.”