By IFEANYI OLANNYE
ASABA- A political pressure group known as The Mid-Westerners, on Wednesday urged the people of Edo and Delta to vote en masse for the Alhaji Atuku Abubakar and Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa ticket come Feb. 25 presidential elections.
The group made the call at a news conference by its Chairman, Mr Iwemdi Nwaham, in Asaba.
Nwaham said, “the group stands for equity, justice and fairness, adding that the briefing was necessitated by the Open Letter by Pa Edwin Clark to Gov. Okowa.”
According to Nwaham, Pa Clark asking the governor to account for the N250 billion and demanding for his resignation as the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP), Vice Presidential Candidate was, however, regrettable.
He noted that the statement ascribes to Pa Clark was a proxy war by certain unseen hands against Okowa, the Vice Presidential Candidate of the PDP.
He said the twin cities of Edo and Delta had taken up their responsibilities to choose their governors and those who would represent them in political offices in the states and national.
He said that the choice of Okowa as the PDP Vice Presidential candidate was an honour and great opportunity for the formal Midwestern states now Edo and Delta, to be represented as number two in the country.
According to him, Pa Clark has been an ardent supporter of Okowa for the past seven and half years.
“We, therefore, wondered why the sudden change now that Okowa is aspiring for a higher office in the country.
“Delta has been in stable, secured, peaceful and progressive hands in the past seven and half years.
“There is no doubt that age is taking toll on our aged great grandfather. We urge him to speak,” he said.
He said that the fact that Pa Clark had kept quite in the past seven and half years was an indication that Okowa had been good to him in all material sense.
“So, what went wrong all of a sudden, especially now that the governor has a higher calling?
“On the issue of N250 billion Federal Government refunds and the N100 billion discounting facility out of the N250/expected refund, the group said that the State House of Assembly was capable of handling the issues.
“Besides, the state Commissioner for Finance, Chief Fidelis Tilije and Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu had at various fora, explained the issues on the N100 billion discounting facility and not a fresh loan.
“We equally regret to announce that the days when people dictate who becomes the governor in both Edo and Delta States are gone forever.
“The time for the old Midwestern region (Edo and Delta) to take its rightful position in the political equation of Nigeria has come,” he said.
Nwaham, added that, “the unifier, Atiku Abubakar has chosen our son, Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa to lead this change.
“We call on all citizens of the old Midwestern region to rise up as one in support of their son. A vote for Atiku is a vote for Okowa and a vote for Okowa is a vote for Atiku for the prosperity and development of the region.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the address was signed by the Chairman, Nwaham; Vice Chairman,, Prof. David Ejenobo; Secretary, Deacon Fidelis Chimokwu and Kennedy h Okwuenu, a member.(NAN)
