ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, YENAGOA
The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide has thrown its weight behind Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, the running mate to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
The IYC dismissed the insinuations by some Niger Delta stakeholders that Okowa betrayed the people of the region by accepting to be running mate to Atiku.
The group, therefore, appealed to the aggrieved stakeholders to thread softly in their criticisms of Okowa, saying his current political status remained the only strategic and available position for the region.
The IYC in a statement by its President, Peter Timothy Igbifa, said instead of pulling Okowa down, all stakeholders should rally round, close their ranks and support him.
Igbifa reasoned that Okowa’s current political status remained the only strategic and major position available to the Niger Delta in the entire arrangements for the 2023 general elections.
He said: “The only best political position available for us in the Niger Delta now is the running mate and Okowa has been selected to represent the region. If Okowa’s PDP wins, the Niger Delta will have the opportunity of occupying the position of Vice President again.
“The South already has two Presidential candidates from other political parties but doesn’t have any other position bigger and better than a running mate in the People Democratic Party.
“Pulling Okowa down amounts to rejecting the only opportunity that is available in that political party for the region. Therefore, the region should unite and queue behind him to enable them to approach the elections, as either way the pendulum swings, the South is still represented.”
Igbifa congratulated the Delta governor on his emergence as Atiku’s running mate and pledged the support of the council for his aspirations.
He advised Okowa to embark on fence-mending to bring all stakeholders including his colleagues in the region on board and carry them along in all his decisions and consultations ahead of the general elections.
“We appeal to elder statesmen to shield their swords and drop their public criticisms of Okowa. We urge them to forgo their misgivings and support the governor in the overall political interest of the Niger Delta,” Igbifa said.
