The Senate Minority Leader and Senator representing Benue South, Abba Moro, has declared that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would have emerged victorious in the 2023 presidential election had former Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, was not selected as Atiku Abubakar’s running mate.
Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’, monitored by our correspondent on Tuesday night, Senator Moro described the choice of Okowa as Atiku’s vice-presidential candidate as a “serious mistake” that significantly weakened the PDP’s chances at the poll.
“Given what we know now, with the hindsight that we have now, some of us think that the party would have won the election if other candidates, other than Okowa, had been picked as the vice presidential candidate from the South,” Moro said.
He criticised Okowa for failing to deliver Delta State to the PDP during the presidential election, noting that the state should have been a stronghold for the party given Okowa’s influence as a former governor.
“I think there is an error of judgment on the part of everybody that was involved in the choice of Okowa as the candidate. How else would you characterise this scenario that a sitting governor, a former senator and a presidential candidate of a party couldn’t deliver his state even to the presidential candidate?” Moro queried.
He also pointed out that the PDP lost its footing in Delta to the extent that two of the state’s three Senators were elected from opposition parties, an outcome he believed highlights Okowa’s lack of commitment to the party.
Okowa recently defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) alongside the current Delta State governor, Sheriff Oborevwori. While being formally welcomed into the APC in Asaba on Monday, Okowa described the move as being in the “best interest” of the people of Delta State and emphasised the need for the state to “connect to Abuja.”
He also said he regretted being on the same ticket with Atiku in 2023.
Reacting to Okowa’s comments, Moro said the former governor’s statement that he regretted being the PDP’s vice-presidential candidate confirmed longstanding suspicions about his loyalty.
“His soul was not in the PDP. His soul was not in that election, and that is why we performed very miserably in Delta State,” he said.
“As it is now, you can safely conclude that we lost the election because of lack of commitment. Otherwise, how can you explain that shortly after losing his state, which ordinarily should have been a very easy pick for the PDP instead of rendering an apology to the party and Nigeria, he’s now talking about regretting being on the ticket?” Moro added.
When asked whether the PDP would suffer if Atiku Abubakar, the party’s presidential candidate in 2019 and 2023, decided to leave the party, Moro acknowledged the former Vice President’s significance.
“Atiku definitely has his own place in history and in the formation of the PDP. He has his own place in the organisation of the PDP. He has his own place as a very strong member, as a two-time presidential candidate of the party. Yes, if he leaves, it will create a vacuum,” the Senate principal officer stated.
