Okowa Lobbied, Begged To Be Atiku’s Running Mate In 2023, Says Timi Frank

Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, on Wednesday, condemned a statement credited to the immediate-past governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, to the effect that he “regrets” accepting to be presidential running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2023.

Frank, in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday,
said even though he was of the opinion that Okowa might have been misquoted, the fact that the former Delta governor has not debunked the claim after over 24 hours showed that he has owned up to it.

He said it was, therefore, necessary to set the records straight in order not to distort history or mislead Nigerians concerning how Okowa emerged as running mate to Atiku in 2023.

He said Okowa’s position was an “afterthought” since he was not only desperate to be running mate but fought, begged and lobbied for the position.

“It is understandable that Okowa is fighting the battle of his life to evade prosecution by the EFCC over corruption allegations against him, but to make Nigerians believe that he now “regrets” taking up the position of vice Presidential candidate of the PDP in 2023 is not only an an afterthought but cowardice in full bloom.

“We know how Okowa begged, fought and lobbied to get the position,” he said.

He equally described Okowa as a serial liar and betrayer, saying his recent defection to the APC has shown him as not only a highly unstable character who suffers from gross integrity deficit but principally driven by parochial survival instincts.

He said rather than Okowa claiming to be regretful, the PDP should rather curse the day it was deceived by Okowa’s armada of lobbyists to invest part of its destiny in a politically hollow and an unfruitful and unprofitable character.

Frank said: “This is not Okowa’s first attempt as a high-level betrayal. The tale of how he stabbed ex-GovernorJames Ibori, his erstwhile godfather, in the back because of power is still fresh in our memory.

“Many of us know how Okowa emerged as Vice Presidential candidate which he was not meant to be because few of us never wanted him because we believed he did not have the capacity and experience to become vice president.

“I’m one of those who felt strongly that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, was a better candidate than Okowa as at that time. But because of the interest of some leaders and elders of PDP at that time, who at Okowa’s bidding unknown to many lobbied and pressurized Atiku to pick him.

“Therefore, Okowa lacks rectitude to play victim or feign regret over a job and position he desperately wanted.

“We are still of the opinion that if Wike had emerged in place of Okowa in 2023 as running mate to Atiku, perhaps PDP would be in government at the national level today but we lost out apparently because of the choice of this ungrateful Okowa who never brought real value or political capital to the table.

“Even as a sitting governor and a vice-presidential candidate, his party, PDP, lost Delta state during the last presidential election and because of his emptiness and lack of electoral value his present voyage would equally not benefit the APC.

“I dare say that with his lack of capacity and value, Okowa would remain a liability because even with him in APC, the party would still lose Delta state in 2027 like PDP did in 2023 with Okowa was a sitting governor.”

Frank, who is the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Ambassador to East Africa and Middle East, said with the desperation of President Tinubu to remain in office in 2027, APC will accept even criminals into its fold.

“With the likes of Okowa joining APC, it shows the party is now a dumping ground for looters. Okowa did not join the APC because he believed Asiwaju has delivered or that the party is working but because of his atrocities now being investigated by the EFCC.

“However, Nigerians and the international community will watch if the anti-graft agency will soft pedal on his go probe because he is now singing: ‘Tinubu, On Your Mandate We Shall Stand,’” he added.

Frank said Atiku did not have any incline of Okowa’s unreliableness when he picked him, adding that the choice affected Turaki’s long standing relationship with James Ibori, who had advised im against the person of Okowa.

“In fact, Atiku did not know that behind Okowa’s calm mien lies a betrayer and an ingrate. It is only God and posterity that will judge Okowa at the end of the day for making Atiku lose the 2023 presidential election because of his unpopularity,” he declared.

He claimed that neither Atiku nor the PDP would miss Okowa now that he is in APC with his former godson and now Governor of Delta State, Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, whom he practically begged and coaxed to go with him into the APC.