2027 Election: Why I Dumped Atiku for Tinubu, Okowa Explains

• Former Delta governor Ifeanyi Okowa addressed an APC presidential campaign rally in Port Harcourt on Saturday, defending his defection to the ruling party
• Okowa, who ran as Atiku Abubakar's vice-presidential candidate in 2023, explained why he crossed over to support President Bola Tinubu
• The ex-governor pointed to federal fiscal reforms and improved state revenue allocations as evidence that Tinubu is on the right track

Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over eight years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international issues

Port Harcourt, Rivers State - Former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has publicly justified his switch from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 general election.

Okowa said he abandoned his support for former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar because he has "seen the light."

As reported by TheCable, Okowa made the remarks on Saturday at an APC presidential campaign rally held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he threw his full weight behind President Bola Tinubu's administration.

"You all know that in 2023 I was on another ticket, but I have seen the light, and I have seen what Mr president is doing for Nigeria," Okowa said. "It is the right thing to be done, and I have long ago crossed to the APC to join hands with Mr president because he is truly building a new Nigeria."

Okowa on Tinubu's economic reforms

The former governor argued that Tinubu inherited a country with broken foundations built up over decades of mismanagement by previous governments, and that the current administration is making tough but necessary choices to fix them.

He credited the federal government's fiscal reforms with boosting revenue that flows to states and local governments across Nigeria, saying the results are visible in improved project delivery and salary payments.

"We no longer talk about people owing salaries; we no longer talk about people owing pensioners. Our local governments are doing projects, our states are doing projects, and we can pay salaries," he said. "Only a man who understands a nation's economy can do this."

Okowa drew a direct comparison between Tinubu's track record as Lagos governor and his current performance at the national level.

The former governor said the same transformation once seen in Lagos is now happening across Nigeria.

From Atiku's running mate to APC supporter

Okowa served as Atiku's vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 general election after the PDP selected him over Nyesom Wike, the current FCT Minister who was Rivers State governor at the time.

Atiku's choice of Okowa over Wike triggered a significant rift within the PDP, with a faction of party members openly backing Wike instead.

The joint Atiku-Okowa ticket lost the 2023 presidential election to Tinubu and the APC.

In April 2025, Okowa had already signalled his disillusionment with the 2023 campaign, saying he regretted accepting the vice-presidential slot.

He argued that the south had expected to produce a successor to former President Muhammadu Buhari, but the PDP's leadership chose differently, and that the fallout from that decision hurt the party's performance in Delta State during the presidential poll.

His appearance at the Port Harcourt rally marks one of his most emphatic public endorsements of Tinubu since his defection to the APC.

INEC to meet over Atiku's ticket

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that INEC said it cannot take a position on the ADC leadership dispute until it receives the certified true copy of the Federal High Court ruling.

The Federal High Court in Abuja nullified the David Mark-led caretaker committee and invalidated Atiku Abubakar's emergence as ADC's 2027 presidential candidate.

INEC National Commissioner Mohammed Haruna said the commission will discuss the matter at its meeting next week.