Senator Abba Moro, who represents Benue South in the National Assembly, has pointed to the selection of Ifeanyi Okowa as the vice-presidential candidate as a key reason the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost the 2023 presidential election.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, Moro said the party erred by picking the former Delta State governor to run alongside Atiku Abubakar.
“Given what we know now, with the hindsight that we have, some of us think that the party would have won the election if other candidates, other than Okowa, had been picked as the vice-presidential candidate from the south,” he said.
He went on to describe the decision as a miscalculation.
“I think there is an error of judgment on the part of everybody that was involved in the choice of Okowa as the candidate,” he added.
Moro’s remarks come shortly after Okowa himself admitted during an appearance on Arise Television that he regretted accepting the vice-presidential slot, claiming his decision was not supported by his people.
His statement followed his recent defection along with Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), a move Okowa said was in “the best interest of our people.”
Moro strongly criticized this stance, saying it revealed a lack of loyalty. “His soul was not in the PDP. His soul was not in that election, and that is why we performed very miserably in Delta state,” he stated.
He also questioned how a sitting governor and former senator failed to secure his state for his party.
“How else would you characterise this scenario that a sitting governor, a former senator, and a presidential candidate of a party couldn’t deliver his state even to the presidential candidate?” he asked.
According to Moro, Okowa’s defection and post-election regret only further affirm the argument that he lacked true commitment to the PDP.
“Instead of rendering an apology to the party and Nigeria, he’s now talking about regretting being on the ticket,” Moro said.
“As it is now, you can safely conclude that we lost the election because of lack of commitment.”