A chieftain of the Folks’s Democratic Get together, PDP, Dele Momodu, has claimed that the defection of the speedy previous governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, won’t be unconnected together with his ongoing trial by the Financial and Monetary Crimes Fee, EFCC.
DAILY NIGERIAN stories that Mr Okowa, who was a running-mate to the presidential candidate of the Folks’s Democratic Get together, PDP, within the 2023 elections, Atiku Abubakar, dumped the opposition get together alongside his successor, Sheriff Oborevwori, and all the state buildings.
In November 2024, the anti-graft companies arrested Mr Okowa over alleged misappropriation of 13 per % derivation funds amounting to ₦1.3 trillion.
He was additionally accused of failing to render accounts for an additional N40bn he used to accumulate shares in UTM Floating Liquefied Pure Fuel.
He was subsequently granted bail by the fee.
However talking throughout an interview on Channels TV on Wednesday, Mr Momodu mentioned he believed the trial was a part of what knowledgeable the previous governor’s choice.
“Nicely, I’m an excellent pupil of Nigerian political historical past, so nothing shocked me about our flesh pressers. The historical past of Nigerian politics is plagued with tales of defection,” Mr Momodu mentioned.
“If you discuss our chief Okowa becoming a member of APC, I’m not shocked. He has been beneath critical harassment in latest instances, and don’t overlook that in 1993 one of many first folks to dump Chief Moshood Abiola was Babanaga Kingibe, who was his working mate.
“It’s nothing new. what is going to shock me is that if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu believes that persons are becoming a member of APC as a result of they love him or as a result of he’s doing fantastically properly.
“What persons are doing now could be a recreation of survival. Gone are the times we used to boast that going to jail makes us a martyr.
“No one needs to go detention; everyone needs to be at residence and benefit from the cash they’ve made in politics.
“So when you see folks in the present day, title one in all them who has not been harassed by the EFCC, ICPC, or particular fraud unit at completely different instances,” Mr Momodu added.
He accused the APC authorities of utilizing the carrot-and-stick method to intimidate opposition leaders.
“However in politics any can change in 24 hours”, he added.
