The governor of Delta State and Vice-Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ifeanyi Okowa, has explained why the presidential flagbearer of the party was not in attendance at a town hall meeting on Sunday.
The town hall meeting was organised by Arise Television in collaboration with the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and it had in attendance the presidential candidates of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso; Labour Party, Peter Obi; and Peoples Redemption Party, Kola Abiola.
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At the beginning of the town hall meeting, the audience became agitated when they learnt that the presidential candidate of the PDP will not make it to the gathering. This development elicited some unfavourable and rowdy responses as some of the crowd began to make fuzz, however, the issue was quelled after some minutes.
While responding to the uproar, Okowa noted that the organisers of the programme were aware that the PDP presidential candidate would not be around for the town hall meeting.
He further said that ‘Whether someone is the president or vice president the ticket is one’.
The Delta State governor said, “I stand in for Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the PDP. I am very much aware that there was a communication to him but he is outside the country. We duly obtained the permission of the organisers of this programme for him to be represented. It is a town hall meeting and that permission was duly given.
“I think that should solve the problem of the agitation that was going on. When it is time for debates, we get into the debates; but this time, it is a town hall meeting about informing the people. Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the PDP is a successful businessman and he is someone who runs a very successful academic institution. He believes in this country.
“Atiku Abubakar has asked me to represent him and we have a document; My covenant to Nigeria. It is a common document on behalf of himself, myself and the PDP. In the first instance, the issue we talk about is that of the nation. I think it is serious business.
“Whether someone is the president or vice president the ticket is one and we must take note of that. We must also understand that moving forward in this nation, is about collective leadership.”
