You’ve no moral right to speak about my defection — Okowa fires back at Saraki

Ifeanyi Okowa, former governor of Delta state has slammed former Senate President Bukola Saraki for criticising his defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Recall that Okowa, who was the PDP’s vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, formally joined the APC last week alongside the incumbent Delta State governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, and prominent key political stakeholders in the state.

Irked with the development last week, Saraki said it was “shocking and unbecoming” that a prominent PDP figure like Okowa would switch allegiance to the ruling party.

But, in a swift response, Okowa during an interview on Arise News Channel on Tuesday, questioned Saraki’s moral authority to speak on his decision, noting that Saraki had himself defected to the APC in 2014 before returning to the PDP in 2018.

“I didn’t expect that somebody like Senator Bukola Saraki would be able to speak concerning me because he had also moved to APC before and eventually, he returned [to PDP],” Okowa said.

“He had moved to and fro. I don’t think he has a moral right to speak about my defection at all. I don’t want to join issues with him.”

Okowa maintained that the decision to defect was not personal but rather a consensus reached by his political base in Delta State.

“My move to join the APC was a joint decision taken by my political family in Delta state,” he stated.

The former governor also responded to claims that his defection was motivated by fear of prosecution or a desire to evade accountability.

“In the first instance, there are no sins to be forgiven because no sins were committed.” he said when asked if he joined the APC to have his “sins forgiven.

He also denied reports that he had been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“I was not arrested by the EFCC. A communication was sent to me when I was not at my place; I was overseas at that time. When I returned, I reported to the EFCC and answered the query,” he said.

“As I communicated to the public the last time, I’m not afraid to be investigated. I had worked for the people of Delta state. Majority of the people understand that I did work for them. Petitions can be written by anybody. Whatever the petitions, the right of investigation is that of the EFCC. There are no fears at all.”