Former Delta State Governor and 2023 running mate to Atiku Abubakar, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, has publicly declared his support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid. Speaking at an All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign rally in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Saturday, Okowa explained his political shift by stating that he had “seen the light.”
Okowa asserted that the nation is currently “on the right track” because the president is laying a solid foundation. He issued a strong warning against the potential return of the fuel subsidy, arguing that those who previously undermined the country’s economic stability through the subsidy regime must not be permitted to “destroy the future of our children.”
At the same event, Abdulaziz Yari, the Director General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, set a specific target of 2.3 million votes for Tinubu in Rivers State for the January 16 election. Yari described this figure as achievable, noting that approximately 2.8 million Permanent Voter Cards had been collected out of the 3.3 million registered voters in the state. He urged supporters to assist Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike in delivering these votes, emphasizing that the party expected “nothing less than 80 percent” of the vote in the region.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio highlighted that Rivers State was the only South-South state where Tinubu secured a convincing victory in 2023, expressing confidence that this performance would be replicated in the upcoming election. Akpabio also claimed that under the current administration, Nigeria now generates more revenue from taxation than from crude oil.
APC National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda characterized the Tinubu-Shettima ticket as “the best for now in Nigeria.” Meanwhile, Senator Magnus Abe defended the Rainbow Coalition’s presence in the state, stating that its primary objective was to ensure the president’s return to power.
<small>Source: Vanguard News — read the original story there.</small>
