Former Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, has revealed that ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar is preparing to leave the Peoples Democratic Party ahead of the 2027 elections. Punch reports.
Recall that, Atiku was the PDP’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, with Okowa as his running mate.
On March 20, 2023, the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku, Labour Party’s Peter Obi, a former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai and others jointly announced the creation of a coalition to challenge President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election.
The move has sparked ongoing discussions about the potential for a united opposition, with political leaders expressing varied opinions.
Speaking on Arise News on Tuesday, Okowa—who officially joined the All Progressives Congress on Monday—expressed regret for not aligning with his people in supporting a southern candidate in 2023 instead of accepting the role as Atiku’s running mate. He 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, and I had been nominated. Still, in retrospect, I now believe I should have gone with the will of my people.”
He added that the election of the current Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, proves that the people still have confidence in their leadership.
Okowa added, “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.”
When asked about his communication with Atiku before leaving the PDP, Okowa responded, “I actually did communicate with him that we were going to have stakeholders meetings this week (in the last week) and that it was going to be a leadership meeting and the outcome of that meeting was going to determine our next path because we were no longer comfortable with the PDP.
“And I also know that he is already heading out of the PDP from the communications he has passed on to me, and that Nigerians know already.”
