BY OMOS OYINBODE, ASABA
Over 600 youths under the aegis of Delta Rebirth Initiative have taken the Presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress, General Muhammadu Buhari, to the cleaners, describing him as too old and unfit to lead the nation in the present quest to make Nigeria a leading nation in the global community.
Speaking during a rally in support of the candidature of President Goodluck Jonathan and Senator Ifeanyi Okowa in Asaba, the Delta State capital, leader of the group, Okechukwu Isichei, said Nigerian youths make 52 percent of the population of Nigeria, noting that the leader of Nigeria must be a youth so that he could understand the language of youths in their desire for government attention.
Isichei, who spoke alongside the group’s General Secretary, Francis Kiwadon, explained that the group had no personal grudge against Buhari, but considering the achievement of President Goodluck Jonathan in all sectors of the Nigerian economy, he needed the support of all Nigerian youths because he has done well.
He said his support for Jonathan was 100 percent not because he is from the South South States but because he is the best man for the job at the moment.
On the Delta Governorship race, Isichei said all members of the group were in support of Senator Ifeanyi Okowa and Kignsley Otuaro, his running mate. He said the rally was organized basically in favour of the duo as Otuaro is a member of the Christ Embassy Church under which the group was operating in the state.
He said the pair of Okowa and Otuaro was a good one as they are well bred individuals with good antecedents having been in government over the years.
He added that the rally was to create awareness on the need for Deltans to collect their Permanent Voters’ Card and vote for Jonathan as President and Okowa as Governor with Otuaro as Deputy.
“We are campaigning for Okowa/Otuaro gubernatorial race. They are grassroot personalities; they have good antecedents, when you check their records, they’ve made mark in their respective fields. For this, we decided to pick them as our political candidates to support”, Isichei said.
On why the group was working under the umbrella of the Christ Embassy Church, he said “the running mate of Okowa, Kingsley Otuaro, is a deacon in this ministry. Also, he is our topmost partner in this church. He is not just a believer, not just a Christian but a partner. You can imagine when he becomes the Deputy Governor of this state.
“He has experience. Before now, he was a commissioner in DESOPADEC. There is no politics in Christianity. Because our son is involved, that’s why we are involved. So, we can’t just leave him. We are doing it to support him. We are not playing politics, no”, Isichei said.