PDP Chieftain Segun Showunmi has criticized former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for his lack of party engagement following the 2023 elections, drawing a comparison with Labour Party’s former Presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
In an interview with Daily Trust, Showunmi acknowledged Okowa’s political credentials while questioning his commitment to the PDP after electoral defeat. “Okowa’s trajectory as a person, he is a former senator and former governor, is not a bad one,” Showunmi stated. “In that sense, nobody will know how the outcome of an election will be until the election is cast and the votes are counted. In any case, if you don’t have a free, fair, transparent, credible election, whatever you call the outcome, at best, we take it with a pinch of salt.”
The PDP chieftain referenced earlier concerns about Okowa’s selection as running mate, suggesting that the FCT Minister, Nyesom might have brought more value to the ticket. “But with the benefit of hindsight, that some of us were clairvoyant about him, because at that time, we had said he’s not going to bring as much to the table as the man he was outstepped for,” he explained. “That the man he was sidestepped for, which ironically is now the Minister of FCT, we kept saying, has a culture and a tradition of keeping his word. He has a culture of bravery; when he wears the jersey of the PDP, he will not cow and he will not fall down; he will see it all the way.”
He reserved his sharpest criticism for Okowa’s post-election behavior, contrasting it with Peter Obi’s continued public presence. “But alas, even after we lost the election in 2003, people like us have been pushing the party and supporting it; what has he (Okowa) been doing? He’s just been muted; he’s not been doing anything even to promote or support the party,” Showunmi charged. “His age-mate Peter Obi, after losing the election, has been showing visibility. So, if Okowa is gone, it is a good riddance to bad rubbish.
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