The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party,(PDP) Atiku Abubakar, and his running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa, on Tuesday took a swipe at the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC), saying its decision to run on a Muslim-Muslim ticket in the 2023 presidential election was the most insensitive decision to make in a diversified nation like Nigeria.
They also carpeted the Buhari-led APC government for running the economy aground and making Nigerians poorer than they were eight years ago.
Atiku and Okowa, who described the ruling party’s choice of same faith ticket as the most insensitive political step, spoke in two separate political events organised in Abuja and Lagos.
Okowa, who was in the company of the PDP National Chairman, Iyorchi Ayu, at an event in Abuja, said “I personally do not believe in the Muslim-Muslim ticket. The reason is that there is diversity when it comes to that. Therefore, sticking to one faith is not a good thing to do particularly in a troubled nation as we are in today. It’s almost like going on to having the presidential candidate from the North and picking the vice presidential candidate also from the North.”
As a result of the ruling party’s action, the Delta State governor said it would be difficult for the APC to win the presidential poll.
“So, the only ticket that can work for Nigeria is the ticket that doe not tie election victory to either the Muslim or Christian faith,” he stressed.
The summit was organised by the Northern Christian Youth Assembly with the theme, “Unifying Nigeria: The role of Northern Christian youths and women.”
Okowa told the youth that with their support, the party would win the 2023 elections.
He said the PDP had been receiving several defectors, adding that more people were joining the Atiku/Okowa project.
While commending the group for organising the meeting to discuss Nigeria’s challenges and the pathways to finding solutions, he advised everyone to prepare to vote in the coming poll.
“The PDP will win the election because many people have keyed into this project. We are receiving defectors in droves. When we say that the future is for the youth, it is actually from today. But the real truth is, our youths, particularly the youth leaders must be in a position to have a clear understanding so that they are able to guide others aright. This is because if you have a leadership that is not able to provide that true leadership of guiding people alright and people begin to think in the wrong way, you create further problems rather than finding solutions; and we go the wrong path.
“We are going to see bullying in the cyberspace of our country. I think that everybody should have his space and time to be able to think and make comments without being bullied. We need to do critical thinking and that is why we are gathered here today.
“The topic for the event is key because it talks about unifying Nigeria. This is instructive because there is strength in our diversity but that will only be when we are able to unite ourselves.
