2023 Election: I Knew We Would Lose Before Polls, Says Atiku’s Former Running Mate Okowa
2023 Election: I Knew We Would Lose Before Polls, Says Atiku’s Former Running Mate Okowa
According to him, despite being the running mate to the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, he was aware that the party would not win the election.
Former Delta State Governor and the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Ifeanyi Okowa, has said he knew before the polls were held that the party would lose.
Okowa made the disclosure in a video seen by SaharaReporters while reflecting on the 2023 presidential election and the performance of the PDP, Labour Party (LP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to him, despite being the running mate to the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, he was aware that the party would not win the election.
“Although I was the vice-presidential candidate, I knew that we would not win the election,” Okowa said.
He also spoke about the emergence of the Labour Party as a major force during the election, particularly its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who secured significant support among voters in several parts of the country.
Okowa said there had been expectations that the Labour Party could win the election, adding that political actors had to prepare for the outcome.
He said, “And in one way, even when I met the Christian leaders, I told them, this is where the P6 came in. And the votes came in, so the P6 came and we thought that the Labour Party would win.”
The former governor, however, appeared to make further claims about the conduct of the election in parts of the country, although portions of the video were unclear.
His comments come amid renewed discussions over the disputed 2023 presidential election, which was won by APC candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Tinubu was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with 8,794,726 votes, ahead of Atiku, who polled 6,984,520 votes, and Obi, who secured 6,101,533 votes.
Both Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi challenged the election result in court, but their bids to overturn Bola Tinubu’s victory ultimately failed.
In preparation for the forthcoming 2027 general election, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has defected to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), where he has emerged as the party’s presidential candidate. Former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has been announced as his running mate.
