Since former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar emerged as the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the public have been waiting for the announcement of his approved running mate.
Finally, Atiku has announced his vice presidential candidate as the Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa. He took to his verified twitter account to make the announcement. He wrote,
“I am delighted to announce Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as my Vice Presidential candidate. I look forward to travelling our great country together, engaging with all Nigerians and building a shared future of peace, unity, and prosperity for all. As One We Can Get It Done. #OneNigeria“
During the unveiling in Abuja, Atiku described his preffered running mate as someone with all the qualities to be President.
He said,
“The person must have an appreciation of the deep rot which our country has been put into by the rudderless APC government; understands the great suffering that most of our people are going through and the urgency of relieving them of that suffering; understands the critical importance of economic growth and development to provide our young people with jobs, hope, and a pathway to wealth.
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The person must appreciate the critical importance of education in the development of modern societies so we can prepare our young people to be able to compete in the increasingly competitive and globalized world.
My running mate must understand that without security, development will be very difficult because local and foreign investors who have been scared away already, would not return to invest in our economy. Thus, my running mate will be a person who will stand by me as a I confront the frightening level of insecurity in our land.
In addition, my Running Mate has to be someone who is not afraid to speak his mind and give honest advice, and, be by my side as I work very hard to reverse the destructive impact of the past seven years of the APC government.”
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa is the current governor of Delta State. He was inaugurated as a governor on 29th May 2015, before that he was a Senator representing the Delta North Senatorial District.