From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Delta State governor and Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) 2023 vice presidential candidate, Ifeanyi Okowa, has said that the country needs an experienced leader- to pilot its affairs.
Okowa, who stated this, on Friday, in Abuja, at an event organised by the Green Assembly Initiative (GAI), to mark this year’s International Youth Day, said only the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has the requisite experience to lead, after the current administration.
The Delta governor, while noting that the state of affairs in the country is frightening, said Nigerians cannot afford to lose hope, as the country can begin the rebuilding process in 2023.
He said :” And our building process starts on 2023 when Atiku Abubakar becomes President. People ask, I don’t want to play politics. I do not believe in all those who are running for the presidency. The way we look at what is going on today in Nigeria, there are loads of problems.
“And if we do not elect the right person, we’ll find ourselves getting somebody who is going to get the seats and still confused on that seat, because the problems will overwhelmed him because he will not even know how to start.
“It’s much easier to govern in a nations where the rule of law is not taken for granted because institutions are already working. But in a country like Nigeria and in most African countries where the issues are different, requires a lot of deep talk, requires a lot of experience, positive experience that can truly enable you to govern and to be able to bring everybody on the table and inclusive in a governance.
“Not too many people have such experiences. I believe that in Nigeria of today’s to fractured there are so many contending voices. People are speaking in different directions. Our oneness is being threatened. Why? Not because of the north or south, Muslim and Christians, but because there’s frustration everywhere, there’s poverty everywhere. We don’t seem to have the answers because everything just appears to be going downhill.”
Okowa added “there are barriers everywhere in our of life, we cannot continue to frustrate the youths. So, we need to begin a consensus together. That is what I Atiku Abubakar stands for.
“The only man who seems to have that depth of knowledge to take us out of where we are is Atiku Abubakar. He is the only one that has had a similar experience in 1999. Together with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, they are able to take us out a difficult situation.
“It is not about the PDP or APC, is about who can salvage us at the moment, we must think around, so that we will not allow the trauma in our minds to make us take the wrong decision.”
Earlier, the GAI chairman, Duke Alamboye, said no fewer than 60 youth groups have pledged support for the Atiku’s presidential bid.