Kpokpogri To Atiku: Don’t Pick Okowa As Your Running Mate, Consider Wike

By Daniel Dafe

Chairman, Anti Corruption and Integrity Forum and Publisher, Integrity Watchdog Magazine, Comrade Prince Joseph Kpokpogri, has said that the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the presidential flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) should make the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) jettison any arrangement for a weak vice presidential candidate from the south-south, adding that this will be counterproductive, just as he said that Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa will be a minus if he is picked.

In a statement on Friday made available to media houses, he said: “Without mincing words, Senator Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu deserves all the accolades and congratulations from all quarters for emerging the APC Presidential candidate in a primary election that saw him winning in landslide.”

He continued: “It is a known fact that I am not in the category of sycophants who go about congratulating politicians for capturing power to continue to impoverish the people. However, the case under review is evidently a different one. It’s a widely acclaimed victory and a welcome development for our country and democracy based on issues on ground which need to be addressed squarely by those with the will power, courage and sagacity to survive the murderous power wrestling ring and emerge to still make a difference.”

According to the statement, “the PDP should be weary of a man like Tinubu in the 2023 Presidential contest; it should be ready to face him as their worst nightmare in 2023. The beginning of the downfall of PDP is routing for a very weak Vice Presidential candidate from the South-South Geopolitical Zone. Unfortunately, the candidate in their mind only has influence in Delta State and such weak influence ends in Delta.”

Continuing, although not mentioning Okowa’s name in the statement, he said “this move will be the greatest undoing of PDP and Atiku if they eventually make this grave error,” saying that “a man who blatantly sold out and betrayed the agreement reached by his people for his selfish interest cannot be trusted with such exalted office as that of the Vice President.”

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He opined that “for PDP to even manage to square up against Tinubu in the forthcoming general elections, it should be ready to pick a running mate to Atiku, who has a national spread and equally must be a courageous politician; not ‘bole and moi-moi or starch and ewedu’ kind of VP. And definitely not the one who doesn’t respect godfathers or seen to be disloyal to the supremacy of party structures.”

“A Vice Presidential candidate to Atiku Abubakar should be able to hold the South-South Geopolitical Zone for him for instance, has spread in other Zones for the likelihood of getting votes from there too. Only a man like Governor Nyesom Wike can fit into this personality and not a clannish, greedy and sellout character that is being touted for the position. If Atiku and PDP decide to choose this Vice Presidential candidate to fly the flag of the party, it can make or mar their desired victory at the polls, thereby spelling doom on the political essence and agenda of the PDP going forward,” he added.