Ai former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, has assured that the party’s new presidential running mate, Governor Patrick Okowa, would support the Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to save the country from its current economic woes.
Baraje said this in an interview with journalists while giving the rationale behind the party’s choice of Okowa who is the current Governor of Delta State as the running mate of its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
He said: “Governor Okowa is going to support Atiku to salvage the country from the economic doldrums that we find ourselves, and the insecurity that is killing the nation.
“Governor Okowa isn’t an inconsequential personality, he is going to be a performing Vice President, somebody that will give full support to the President, he is going to be a highly complementary vice president to Atiku Abubakar.
“He has been a two time commissioner and was very complimentary to his boss, he has been secretary to the Government of Delta State he was highly complimentary, that is why he was invited by his people as a serving senator to come and be the Governor of the state and we could see what his performances were.”
Baraje, who was asked to speak on the chances of the PDP in the southern part of the country due to the fact that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party (LP) have both chosen their candidates from the region ahead of the 2023, expressed optimism that the electorates in the South will still opt for the PDP due to the age and vibrancy of the vice presidential candidate and that because the region is most assured of presidency with the party come 2027.
“Despite the presidential candidate of the APC and Labour Party coming from the South, the electorates will still go for the PDP candidate, Because of reach, age, vibrancy, because of political dexterity of the candidate.
“Also because of the assurance that in 2027, the presidency will shift to the South and not only to the South but to the South East where we know there has been a lot of agitation and all these are part of the criteria that PDP put into permutations before they come out with Okowa.” he said.
The astute politician, who also adjudged that the battle for supremacy at the polls won’t be decisive at either of South nor North, rather at the central, predicted that series of cross party movements will swing the pendulum in favour of the PDP.
“The battle is not in the south, there are some states that actually create some swings and Delta is one of them, Rivers and Lagos are part of them, coming to look at where is the battle, the battle is in the central part of the country, and I know definitely some of us coming from the central are loyalists of PDP.
“we are sure that a lot of swings will take place in the central that will give PDP a positive advantage towards election in 2023, as far as I’m concerned, the South belongs to the PDP.” Baraje submitted.
