ABUJA, Nigeria — Former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has said he regrets accepting the position of vice-presidential candidate alongside Atiku Abubakar in the 2023 general elections, acknowledging it was a move that did not reflect the sentiment of his constituents.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Monday, April 28, 2025, Dr. Okowa revealed that although his selection was made by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the national level, he now believes that aligning with the prevailing mood in the southern region would have been the more appropriate choice.
“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, and I had been nominated. Still, in retrospect, I now believe I should have gone with the will of my people,” he said.
Okowa attributed the PDP’s failure in the 2023 presidential election in Delta to this dissonance, even as he defended his loyalty to the party.
“The south was interested in producing President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor,” he added.
However, he pointed to the party’s success in the gubernatorial polls, where PDP won in 21 of the state’s 25 local government areas, as proof that he still enjoyed public trust.
“That showed the people still believed in us, believed in me. They said you’ve done well, and we will support the governor you have chosen. And they did,” Okowa said.
His comments come amid a wave of defections from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC), including his own.
He denied claims that his defection was motivated by efforts to escape corruption investigations or “have his sins forgiven.”
“I have never been arrested by the EFCC. I honoured an invitation. Petitions can be written by anybody, but the right of investigation is with the EFCC. So, there are no fears concerning that at all,” he stated, adding that his recent interaction with APC leader Adams Oshiomhole was their first real conversation.
The former governor framed his decision to switch parties as a product of extensive consultations and pragmatic politics.
He argued that remaining in the opposition was no longer strategically beneficial for the people of Delta State.
“When you find that the values and vision you once believed in are no longer there, then you step away,” Okowa said.
“Yes, I was a key player in the PDP from the formative stages, but the PDP of today is not the same party we built in 1998.”
Asked whether he owed anyone an apology for his political migration, Okowa was defiant: “I did well for the people of the state. I owe nobody an apology.”
