Peter Obi’s experience not enough to take charge of Presidency —Okowa

The governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, has claimed that Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s (LP) presidential candidate, lacks the necessary expertise to lead Nigeria.

Okowa, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) vice-presidential candidate, made this remark, during a BBC pidgin interview, on Monday.

He acknowledge Obi’s past political experience as a governor but noted that it would not suffice to preside over the complexities of Nigeria.

Okowa said, “At every party, there are good people and bad people. But today’s Nigeria is very troubled and we need the right person. That is why I am appealing to our youths to be wise and vote well, they should not be blinded by the concept of a false change because that is how they raved on Jonathan in 2015.

“His (Obi) previous experience is not enough for this one (presidency), it will be hard. His experience is not deep enough. Even as a current governor ruling in a time of crisis, I know how hard it is. I even want to learn under Atiku because he has experience with the federal government. The thing is not easy. For them to have handled the economy at that time and made it something better, offering hope, creating jobs, and filtering the society, was not easy because it’s a bigger thing. So someone is supposed to learn through that. If you look at Obi’s experience you’ll know it’s small.”

However, Datti Baba-Ahmed, Obi’s running mate, responded to the comments, tagging them ‘unfair.”

Datti-Ahmed said Okowa had no idea what capacity is, adding that Obi remained the most qualified for the Presidency.

Baba-Ahmed, who spoke in an interview with Channels Television, said Obi remained the most qualified among the four leading candidates vying for the presidency.

Read also: 2023: Okowa confident Gov Wike will remain in PDP despite disaffections

He said: “That is absolutely untrue. In fact, I beg you to show me anyone who has had more leadership experience in the 2023 contest. By that contest, I mean the candidates that we have — the four leading candidates.

“I fail to see anyone who even comes close to his excellency, Peter Obi. The world is now at the stage where we need private sector experience and among all of them, no one has much private sector business sense, prudence, frugality, ability to manage persons, communities, interest groups. None of the other three has as much.

“That comment is a very unfair, and I will like to think that very soon, the maker of that comment will have to retract because it shows that he has no idea about what capacity is.”

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