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According to Jacob Mark, a former national legal adviser for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ifeanyi Okowa, a former Delta State governor, defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC) won’t have a significant impact on the main opposition.

He asserts that Okowa’s decision to move to the APC offers no political benefits and that, despite being the party’s vice presidential candidate, the former governor was unable to give his state to the PDP in 2023.

Speaking on Arise, Mark said that it is hard to imagine the devastation the PDP would suffer if Okowa failed to deliver his state as running mate to Atiku Abubakar.

The Delta State governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, and Ifeanyi Okowa, the PDP’s 2023 running mate to Atiku Abubakar, joined the ruling party on Wednesday, according to ZINGTIE. Other members of the state’s National Assembly and State Assembly, as well as local government chairmen, also joined.

“Truthfully, there is no political party that will be celebrating the departure of a sitting government. So truth be told, that is a big one for a sitting governor to leave a political party,” Mark said.

He continued, “But whether that amounts to an earthquake is something else to discuss, because we all know that in the 2023 election, the former governor of Delta State was the running mate to Atiku Abubarkar and he could not deliver his state to the PDP.

“So sometimes these big men have their role, but their level of control politically, and when it comes to elections, is something that must be interrogated. As a running mate, if he could not deliver his state, it goes a long way to say what tsunami he can cause by being in APC.

“And particularly also, when you look at the state where this is happening, the people of Delta state have consistently displayed electoral capacity to think for themselves, to take decisions that are beneficial to themselves, not necessarily the decisions of stakeholders or governors or senators, the people of Delta State must be respected.

“It is possible that the governor and the former governor have their interests which may not be the same interest as the interest of the electorate. And this must be put in perspective.

“And just like I said, the example I gave, he didn’t move the people to vote for him, even when the people stood a chance of having a vice president from their state.

“So it’s questionable whether, indeed, having moved to the APC, the people will follow him.

“And generally on these issues of defection, it is a constitutional right for people to shift based on what interest they wish to protect, not necessarily because the APC as a government is performing, not necessarily because the electorate are happy.

“And that will be tested whether people are happy, whether people are excited that the government of today is performing and is delivering on all its promises, is something else that will be tested, not necessarily, whether the big men move into a PC or not.

“This is being seen all over the country, in different states, people are moving some because they want to get political mileage. Some because they think that by being the APC they can get appointments. Some because they have negotiated some things that are not known to the general public, for themselves, not for the communities they represent. So defections are okay, as far as the Nigerian, eh, kind of politics is concerned.

“We are not operating based on any ideology. As far as I’m concerned, all the political parties are the same.

“They represent no defined ideology that anybody can stick to, and that is why you wake up in the morning. One man is moving to this party. The next day, another man is moving to the other party.“

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