The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has settled for the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, as their preferred candidates.
The CUPP from the 11 states of the South-South and South-East geopolitical zones, made the endorsement of Atiku and Okowa on Thursday in a communiqué issued by its spokesman, Prince Henry Eze, in Asaba, the Delta State capital.
The South-South/South-East CUPP led by its zonal Chairman, Ken Ikeh, said in the communiqué that adopting the Atiku-Okowa ticket was in line with the vision of the CUPP founding fathers.
“This is with a view to adopting one of them as a consensus presidential candidate in line with the vision of CUPP founding fathers,” the communiqué said.
“The CUPP, arising from a critical assessment meeting, therefore gladly endorsed the candidacy of Atiku Abubakar- Ifeanyi Okowa joint ticket as our consensus choice for the 2023 presidential election.
“This geopolitical zone of Nigeria has always joined the rest of the country to advocate for restructuring of this economy.
“Atiku is an advocate of restructuring and has promised to champion devolution of power to federating states.
“Atiku, having been the Vice President of Nigeria is the most experienced of all the presidential candidates and besides, his joint ticket with Okowa satisfies the criteria of a Muslim-Christian ticket.
“Atiku’s choice of Okowa as running mate is an indication that the PDP presidential candidate cares for the Igbo people.
“In 1999, Atiku demonstrated his preference by choosing his running mate from the South-East. Both Atiku and Okowa are proven and tested unifiers.”