Former Delta State Governor and 2023 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) vice-presidential candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, has defended his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), declaring that he now supports President Bola Tinubu because he believes the administration is putting Nigeria on the path to economic recovery.
Okowa made the declaration on Saturday, November 7, at the APC Rainbow Coalition presidential campaign rally at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he urged voters across the South-South to support Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027.
Addressing party supporters, the former governor acknowledged his previous political alignment with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, whom he ran alongside on the PDP ticket in the 2023 presidential election.
He, however, said his assessment of Tinubu’s policies and the direction of the country had convinced him to abandon the opposition and support the President.
“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, who defected to the APC in April 2025 alongside Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and other political leaders, argued that the Tinubu administration was taking difficult but necessary decisions to address longstanding structural weaknesses in the economy.
He specifically criticised the petroleum subsidy regime, which he said had weakened the country’s economic foundation and undermined its capacity to meet essential obligations.
“When the foundation is broken, you cannot do anything,” he said. “Mr President realises that successive administrations have broken the foundations of Nigeria. And today, we are on the right course because that foundation is being put right.”
The former governor also cited increased federal allocations to state and local governments as evidence that the administration’s economic reforms were yielding results.
According to him, the additional resources available to sub-national governments have improved their ability to execute projects and meet salary and pension obligations.
“Today, our states, today, our local governments are doing so well because Mr President has continued to mobilise resources for various states and our local governments,” Okowa said.
“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. Only a man who understands a nation’s economy can do this.”
He added that the economic model previously implemented in Lagos State was now being extended across the country, expressing confidence that the reforms would strengthen Nigeria’s long-term development prospects.
On education, Okowa identified the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) as one of the administration’s important interventions, saying it would help students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds complete their university education.
He urged young people, particularly those in the Niger Delta, to support policies that would expand access to education and improve their prospects rather than embrace calls to reverse the current reforms.
“Mr President is a man who understands that our children need a future. An educated populace can build a sustainable future for the Nigerian nation,” he said.
“Mr President is doing just that by ensuring our students can complete their university education without financial strain through NELFUND. This is what we need in this country.”
Okowa also took aim at opposition politicians advocating a return to fuel subsidy, describing such proposals as an attempt to take the country backwards.
He maintained that reinstating the subsidy would undermine the economic adjustments being pursued by the Tinubu administration and place the country at risk of repeating past mistakes.
“We do not want those old persons who have led us wrong in the past to destroy the future of our youths and tell you that they want to bring back subsidy. That is taking us to the past,” he warned.
The former Delta governor called on voters in the South-South to remain patient with the administration, insisting that the reforms would provide a stronger economic foundation and a more secure future for younger generations.
“We must be patient. It is working, and I believe that a new Nigeria is being born, a new Nigeria which will ensure security for the future of our young ones,” he said.
He urged supporters to mobilise for Tinubu’s re-election, saying the country needed continuity to consolidate the gains of the administration’s policies.
The Port Harcourt rally, organised by the APC Rainbow Coalition under the leadership of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, brought together political leaders and supporters from Rivers State and other parts of the South-South.
President Tinubu also attended the rally, where he sought the region’s support for his second-term ambition and commended the political reconciliation between Wike and Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Okowa’s endorsement comes after his transition from the PDP, under whose platform he served as Delta governor from 2015 to 2023 and contested the 2023 presidential election as Atiku Abubakar’s running mate, to the ruling APC.
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