Running mate: Atiku picking Okowa, solves Muslim-Muslim ticket fears—Arewa Coalition

NORTHERN-based Coalition of Arewa Forum for Good Governance (CAFGG), has noted that the choice of Delta State governor, Senator Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa as Atiku Abubakar’s running mate has doused the brewing tension caused by the rumour of a Muslim-Muslim ticket. 

This was even as it hailed the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former vice president for being sensitive to the yearnings of Nigerians. 

According to the coordinator of the Coalition, Garba Yunusa, in a press conference held in Asa Pyramid Hotel, Kaduna on Saturday, the choice of Okowa not only strikes a balance of religion but, it also douses tension on the quest for Igbo presidency, knowing fully well that he’s a Delta-Igbo. 

“Nigerians can’t afford to face any sectarian crisis caused by a lopsided political arrangement in addition to the current problem of banditry and terrorist activities,” the group said. 

Yunusa, who also expressed worry over unnecessary delays by presidential candidates in picking running mates noted that the electorate now has a choice should any politician decide to go another way. 

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He said, “picking Okowa, who is a Christian and a minority Anioma in Delta State from the extraction of SouthSouth geo-political zone has no doubt laid to rest the fears of political crisis. 

“Our greatest joy now is that the tension stirred up by Muslim-Muslim ticket rumour in some quarters can now be doused with the balanced alternative provided by the PDP presidential candidate who is from the North and his running mate from the South,” he stated. 

He, however, averred that Governor Okowa, who is a former lawmaker and current Delta State governor, became the beautiful bride, because of overt requisite leadership qualities that endeared Atiku to pick him as running mate. 

While urging the electorate to weigh the pros and cons of Atiku/Okowa as a united force for a united Nigeria, he appealed to all aggrieved persons, especially in the PDP to sheath their swords and work with the party to ensure victory at the polls. 

Adding that “Afterall, Atiku chose Okowa after wide consultations with various stakeholders and party stalwarts.”