Timi Frank reveals how Okowa lobbied, begged to be Atiku’s running mate

Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, has criticized a statement reportedly made by Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, the immediate past Governor of Delta State, expressing regret over being the running mate to Atiku Abubakar in the 2023 presidential election.

Frank, in a statement released on Wednesday in Abuja, questioned the silence of Okowa more than 24 hours after the statement surfaced, suggesting the former governor may be indirectly validating the claim.

While noting that Okowa might have been misquoted, Frank stressed the importance of clarifying the situation to avoid distorting the historical record or misleading the public on how Okowa was selected as Atiku’s running mate under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform.

READ ALSO: Okowa fires back at Saraki, says he has no right to speak about his defection

He said Okowa’s position was an “afterthought” since he was not only desperate to be running mate but fought begged and lobbied for the position.

“It is understandable that Okowa is fighting the battle of his life to evade prosecution by the EFCC over corruption allegations against him, but to make Nigerians believe that he now “regrets” taking up the position of vice Presidential candidate of the PDP in 2023 is not only an an afterthought but cowardice in full bloom.

“We know how Okowa begged, fought and lobbied to get the position,” he said.

He equally described Okowa as a serial liar and betrayer, saying his recent defection to the APC has shown him as not only a highly unstable character who suffers from gross integrity deficit but principally driven by parochial survival instincts.

He said rather than Okowa claiming to be regretful the PDP should curse the day it was deceived by Okowa’s armada of lobbyist to invest part of its destiny in a politically hollow and an unfruitful and unprofitable character.

Frank said: “This is not Okowa’s first attempt as a high level betrayal. The tale of how he stabbed ex-GovernorJames Ibori, his erstwhile godfather, in the back because of power is still fresh in our memory.

“Many of us know how Okowa emerged as Vice Presidential candidate which he was not meant to be because few of us never wanted him because we believed he did not have the capacity and experience to become vice president.

“I’m one of those who felt strongly that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, was a better candidate than Okowa as at that time. But because of the interest of some leaders and elders of PDP at that time, who at Okowa’s bidding unknown to many lobbied and pressurized Atiku to pick him.

“Therefore, Okowa lacks rectitude to play victim or feign regret over a job and position he desperately wanted.

“We are still of the opinion that if Wike had emerged in place of Okowa in 2023 as running mate to Atiku, perhaps PDP would be in government at the national level today but we lost out apparently because of the choice of this ungrateful Okowa who never brought real value or political capital to the table.

“Even as a sitting governor and a vice-presidential candidate, his party, PDP, lost Delta state during the last presidential election and because of his emptiness and lack of electoral value his present voyage would equally not benefit the APC.

“I dare say that with his lack of capacity and value, Okowa would remain a liability because even with him in APC, the party would still lose Delta state in 2027 like PDP did in 2023 with Okowa was a sitting governor.”

Frank who is the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Ambassador to East Africa and Middle East, he said with the desperation of President Tinubu to remain in office in 2027, APC will accept even criminals into its fold.

“With the likes of Okowa joining APC, it shows the party is now a dumping ground for looters. Okowa did not join the APC because he believed Asiwaju has delivered or that the party is working but because of his atrocities now being investigated by the EFCC.

“However, Nigerians and the international community will watch if the anti-graft agency will soft pedal on his go probe because he is now singing: ‘Tinubu, On Your Mandate We Shall Stand,’” he added.

Frank said Atiku did not have any incline of Okowa’s unreliableness when he picked him adding that the choice affected Turaki’s long standing relationship with James Ibori who had advised him against the person of Okowa.

“In fact, Atiku did not know that behind Okowa’s calm mien lies a betrayer and an ingrate. It is only God and posterity that will judge Okowa at the end of the day for making Atiku lose the 2023 presidential election because of his unpopularity,” he declared.

He said that neither Atiku nor the PDP would miss Okowa now that he is in APC with his former godson and now Governor of Delta State, Hon Sheriff Oborevwori, whom he practically begged and coaxed to go with him into the APC.