Ifeanyi Okowa, the governor of Delta and vice presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), thanked the party’s leadership and Atiku Abubakar for choosing him as his running partner on Friday.
He added that it was an honourable responsibility and that the nomination showed how much the party and Atiku Abubakar believed in his talents.
In front of a sizable crowd of PDP supporters, Okowa said this on Friday during the party’s campaign in the Ika South and Ika North East Local Government Areas.
He thanked the people for their support over the years and urged them to back the party’s choice by casting a large number of votes for all of its candidates in the upcoming general elections, as they have done in the past.
During the carnival-like rally, the governor repeated his call for Deltans to vote for the party with at least one million votes.
Since the founding of the ancient Bendel State, he claims, no Delta native has become vice president. Since I am confident that you will help me and my party succeed in our mission to restore Nigeria, we are grateful for your support and are asking for it.
“With the special grace of God, you have always stood by me throughout my political career, and I’ve seen a lot of Ika people turn up for our campaigns in the past, but I’ve never seen this sort of gathering here.”
“I would want to take this opportunity to thank the PDP leadership and our presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, for choosing me to represent our wonderful party as the vice presidential candidate.
“As a state, we must reach the one million vote threshold, and as members of the Ika nation, I challenge us to cast at least 180,000 votes for the party,” I told our Delta citizens.
“I urge you all to justify my selection by guaranteeing that all of our votes in Ika nation would go to the PDP,” he said, adding, “God will bless you as you continue to work hard for us to perform well in all elections.”
Regarding the next state race for governor, Okowa praised Sheriff Oborevwori’s selection as a candidate as “heavenly” and asked the Ika and Delta people to back him.
Oborevwori, the candidate, thanked the people of Ika for their huge support and told them that his administration’s MORE Agenda would help all parts of the state grow.
Chief Kingsley Esiso, the state party chairman, praised the Ika people for producing a governor who is now the party’s vice presidential candidate and asked them to cast a solid PDP vote to support the selection of Okowa as Atiku Abubakar’s running mate.
Chief Funkekeme Solomon, who is the Director-General of the State’s Campaign Council, said that the PDP built up the country from 1999 to 2015, but he was sad that the APC had destroyed it since it took power in 2015.
But he told the people that the PDP would take the country to new heights and bring back its glory, and he asked them to support the party.
Eight candidates for the state’s House of Assembly from other political parties, led by Mr. Andrew Akawe of the Accord Party, resigned their candidatures in Boji-Boji Owa in favour of Mrs. Marilyn Okowa-PDP Daramola’s bid.
Deputy Governor of the state, Mr. Kingsley Otuaro, Deputy Governorship Candidate, Chief Monday Onyeme, Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu, and the governor’s wife, Dame Edith Okowa, were among those who attended the event.
