Clark Asks Okowa To Quit As VP Candidate, Apologise To Southern Govs

Elder statesman, Edwin Clark has asked the Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa to step down as the Vice-Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

At a media briefing in Abuja on Thursday, Clark also asked Okowa to openly apologise to his colleagues in the PDP and All Progressives Congress (APC) whom he allegedly deceived in taking a decision after it was agreed that no southern serving governor, legislator or politicians should accept to be running mate to Atiku Abubakar.

He said 17 southern governors met at the Government House Asaba on May 11, 2021 and agreed that none of them should offer to be running mate to the PDP presidential candidate.

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The southern governor’s first meeting now popularly known as ‘The Asaba Accord’ was hosted by Okowa.

It was followed up with another meeting in Lagos known as the famous ‘Lagos Declaration’ where they unanimously agreed that Nigeria’s next president should be from the southern part of the country.

The southern governors specifically wanted all the major political parties to field politicians from the south as their presidential candidates.

However, while the ruling APC fielded a southerner, Bola Tinubu, the main opposition PDP threw its primary open and eventually came out with Atiku Abubakar, another northerner as its presidential candidate.

The former Vice President subsequently nominated Okowa as his running mate for the February 25 election.