He made the claim while appearing as a guest in an interview on Arise TV’s Morning Show.
Elder statesman and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark has slammed former Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa.
Speaking on Wednesday, Clark described Okowa as a traitor and a very crafty man.
Clark also alleged that Okowa emerged as Atiku Abubakar’s running mate for the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after spending Delta State’s money on (Atiku’s) campaign.
He made the claim while appearing as a guest in an interview on Arise TV’s Morning Show.
Clarke revealed that the 17 southern governors had, ahead of the 2023 presidential election, resolved to oppose any party that presented a northern presidential candidate in their primaries but Okowa went behind his colleagues to team up with Atiku.
“Let me tell you the reason why the whole of southern Nigeria regards Okowa as a traitor. Let me tell you, he is a betrayer. Okowa volunteered to host a meeting of the 17 governors of the south. He provided accommodation for every one of them,” Clark said.
“He provided his secretariat, I know the person who was the secretary to the government at the time. They were there, they drafted the communique supervised by him and gave it to Akeredolu to read. He read it, then they all went to Lagos to confirm it, they went to Enugu to confirm it, not knowing that the same Okowa was spending our money for Atiku. I asked him in my letter to answer it”.
He added, “The delegates of the PDP primary, who did they vote for? Did they vote for Wike or Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom? They all voted for Atiku. So, he deceived his colleagues that we should produce the president from the south only to team up with Atiku to betray us. All the governors know about that. He is a man who is very ambitious, quiet and gives a wrong impression about himself that he is a very good man. Very crafty man.”