supporting any of the presidential aspirants of the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP.
Answering questions from newsmen in Asaba at the quarterly media
interaction, Okowa said he would not force any PDP delegate from the
state to vote against their wish.
He said when former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, who is also
aspiring to the exalted office came for consultation, he was also well
received by the people of the state, noting that he carefully chose
his words each time to maintain his neutrality int the process.
Okowa said not even former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who was given
an elaborate and overwhelming reception, on Tuesday, when he came on a
consultation visit to the state PDP has his support yet.
He said, "I have not said I am supporting Atiku. I made my statement
which was clear and cautious. If you followed us properly, you will
discover that when he talked to Deltans, he made a lot of statement
which did interest our people, and he has said he is a friend of the
state.
"He talked about restructuring and the rest. And if his programme
continues to interest the people, I will not be able to hold back the
hands of the people. I am not going to force any delegate to the
national convention to vote the way Okowa thinks or feels.
"They will be allowed to exercise their discretion and their votes. I
am not the type of person that will insist that this is the way it
must go. When Sule Lamido came, people know that he spoke so well,
Lamido is also a man I respect so well, and he was well received.
"As governor, I don't want to directly support any candidate, but the
will of the people will be allowed to be, but if anything happens that
I have to give guidance, I will never force the people to vote against
their will," he said.
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