Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Ahead of the October national convention of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to elect the presidential candidate of the party in next year’s election, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, on Wednesday, said he was not supporting any of the present aspirants.
Okowa said not even former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who was given an elaborate and overwhelming reception, on Tuesday, when he came on a consultation visit to the state PDP has his support yet.
Atiku was well received in Asaba with the machinery of government effectively deployed to mobilise supporters and party faithful across the state, an indication that the state PDP already has a direction ahead of the presidential primary.
But answering questions from newsmen in Asaba at the quarterly media interaction, the governor said he would not force any PDP delegate from the state to the national convention to vote against his or her wish, adding that as governor, he was not supporting any aspirant.
He said when former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, who is also aspiring to the exalted office came for consultation, he was also well received by the people of the state, noting that he carefully chose his words each time to maintain his neutrality in the process.
“I have not said I am supporting Atiku. I made my statement which was clear and cautious. If you followed us properly, you will discover that when he talked to Deltans, he made a lot of statement which did interest our people, and he has said he is a friend of the state.
“He talked about restructuring and the rest. And if his programme continues to interest the people, I will not be able to hold back the hands of the people. I am not going to force any delegate to the national convention to vote the way Okowa thinks or feels.
They will be allowed to exercise their discretion and their votes. I am not the type of person that will insist that this is the way it must go. When Sule Lamido came, people know that he spoke so well, Lamido is also a man I respect so well, and he was well received.
“As governor, I don’t want to directly support any candidate, but the will of the people will be allowed to be, but if anything happens that I have to give guidance, I will never force the people to vote against their will,” he said.
The governor said it was his desire that the various presidential aspirants on the platform of the PDP will engage themselves before the convention and reach a compromise so as to have less tension at the presidential primary.
Asked to react to the threat by the national chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole that the PDP will be finally nailed in 2019 and that APC will take over Delta, Okowa described Oshiomhole’s rantings as mere politics.
The governor seized the opportunity to advice politicians across the political divide to apply decorum and be decent in the use of language during the campaigns, urging all to focus on issues.
“I believe Oshiomhole is playing politics and he has the right to play it, just as the PDP and the other political parties have the right to play their politics. The only advise I have for all the politicians in both the APC and PDP is that there must be decorum, we must be cautious about the words we use.
“And as long as your language is decent, I believe that what we need to do is to address the issues, and when you address the issues and talk to the people, they will make their choices. It is the advice I give to all persons irrespective of position including myself.
“Try to be civil in politics because that is the way it ought to be. I don’t like joining issues with people. I don’t believe in grand standing, when there is time to campaign dwell on the issues. We need to be generally cautious and civil in the language we use in the polity,” he added.