Bayo Onanuga, the special adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu has described former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as a “loser again”, following the defection of Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.
Mr Okowa served as Mr Abubakar’s running mate in the 2023 presidential election.
Reacting via his official account on X (formerly Twitter), Mr Onanuga said: “Atiku’s political future looks bleak. The coalition that he, El-Rufai, Babachir, and new member Baba-Ahmed are cobbling together has disintegrated. “Potential allies, including former running mate Ifeanyi Okowa and defunct CPC members, are giving his leprous group a wide berth. Atiku is a loser again.”
Meanwhile, a PDP chieftain, Dele Momodu, has claimed that Mr Okowa’s defection might not be unconnected with his ongoing trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Recall that in November 2024, the anti-graft agencies arrested Mr Okowa over alleged misappropriation of 13 per percent derivation funds amounting to ₦1.3 trillion.
He was also accused of failing to render accounts for another N40bn he used to acquire shares in UTM Floating Liquefied Natural Gas. He was subsequently granted bail by the commission.
But speaking during an interview on Channels TV on Wednesday, Mr Momodu said he believed the trial was part of what informed the former governor’s decision.
“Well, I am a very good student of Nigerian political history, so nothing surprised me about our politicians. The history of Nigerian politics is plagued with stories of defection,” Mr Momodu said.
“When you talk about our leader Okowa joining APC, I am not surprised. He has been under serious harassment in recent times, and don’t forget that in 1993 one of the first people to dump Chief Moshood Abiola was Babanaga Kingibe, who was his running mate.
“It’s nothing new. what will surprise me is if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu believes that people are joining APC because they love him or because he is doing fantastically well.
“What people are doing now is a game of survival. Gone are the days we used to boast that going to prison makes us a martyr.
“Nobody wants to go detention; everybody wants to be at home and enjoy the money they have made in politics.
“So if you see people today, name one of them who has not been harassed by the EFCC, ICPC, or special fraud unit at different times,” Mr Momodu added.
DAILY NIGERIAN
