The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Iyorchia Ayu says the Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa was picked as the running mate for the party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 general election because of his calm, articulate and brilliant attitude.
Speaking on Wednesday in Warri North Local Government Area of the State during the inauguration of the Ogheye Floating Market, Ayu also noted that the national leadership of the party decided to “reward” Delta State with the keenly contested position after the PDP presidential primary in May 2022.
In his words, “The destruction that the APC administration has done to this nation has taken us back 50 years. And when we recognised the sterling contributions of Governor Okowa – his character as a calm, articulate and brilliant young man, we, the leadership of the party, felt he should be promoted upstairs, and therefore, he was selected with the approval of our presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar as the next vice president of Nigeria,”
Ayu has been at the centre of the crisis rocking the main opposition party immediately after its presidential primary last year.
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, who came second at the primaries alongside others have asked Ayu to resign as the national chairman for “justice and equity” within the party.
The G-5 governors noted that it is opposed to “northern dominance” in the leadership of the party, saying Adamawa-born Atiku and Benue-born Ayu cannot be the party’s presidential candidate and national chairman, respectively.
