According to The PUNCH, the five disgruntled governors of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have requested that Bola Tinubu, the APC’s presidential candidate, support the PDP’s gubernatorial and senatorial candidates in their respective states ahead of the 2023 general elections.
According to reports on Thursday, Tinubu was given this as one of the requirements during his meeting with the PDP governors on Tuesday in London, United Kingdom.
The meeting was attended by Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu, Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, Samuel Ortom of Benue, and Nyesom Wike of Rivers.
Governors Donald Duke, Jonah Jang, Olusegun Mimiko, and Bode George, as well as former governors of Cross River, Ondo, and Plateau states, are also demanding that Iyorchia Ayu be removed as the national chairman of the party.
According to a trustworthy source, the five governors worried about their political futures and asked Tinubu for guarantees.
Even though Wike is not running for any office in the 2023 elections, he was reportedly worried about Siminalayi Fubara, his protégé and the PDP candidate for governor of Rivers State, as well as the state’s senatorial candidates.
On the other side, Ortom will be vying for the Benue North-West Senatorial District, while Makinde is seeking a second term.
Ikpeazu is the PDP candidate for the Abia South senatorial district, and Ugwuanyi is the candidate for the Enugu North senatorial district.
However, there are conflicting stories about the ultimate choices made on the issue by the governors and Tinubu.
A person close to Tinubu said that the governors’ “complicated demands” made it hard to come to a final agreement.
He said that the PDP governors asked Tinubu to guarantee senatorial and governorship seats in their states. The former governor of Lagos State was unable to meet this request right away because he wanted to talk it over with his advisors and supporters.
With less than two months until the elections in 2023, the leader of the APC privately admitted that Tinubu might not agree to the request.
“The G-5 governors do not possess the four aces,” he declared. Currently, they are truly looking for shelter. The main issue is that all G-5 members expected Senate and Governorship seats in exchange for the massive prize.
“The next concern is how we’re going to blame our people in the Rivers, Plateau, and Benue.” In Benue, where there is low-hanging fruit, I am concerned. Naturally, it is clear that Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia, who we are confident would win the governorship election, is our favourite to win Benue.
“Teslim Folarin, an APC governorship candidate who is well-known in Oyo, is another option.” I can tell you that’s where we are right now, still trying to figure out how to handle these complicated circumstances. The PDP governors are wise individuals who excel in politics.
The insider also said that the APC presidential candidate is getting more and more pressure to not give the Integrity Group any positions in order to call their bluff.
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The party chieftain claimed that, with the exception of Rivers, it had been predicted that Benue and Oyo would lose seats due to the number of mobilisation efforts that had been made in those two states.
“Oyo will fall, whether Makinde likes it or not. We have never called Abia home. In 2019, we also failed to win 25% in Enugu and Benue, where we lost. And yet, we managed to win the election.
“With Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia, I can assure you that we have a very excellent chance of winning Benue in 2023, even without Ortom.” However, we are aware that Rivers State is where we are most at risk and could need Wike to step up. These are the five states where we fell short but nevertheless prevailed in the 2019 presidential contest.
The reality is that Asiwaju is aware that none of these five states will determine the outcome of the election. We must set up camp with them only to double-check that he will win. However, as I previously stated, they are unable to stamp their feet, draw a line, or place restrictions on Asiwaju. “These governors truly have nowhere else to go, so their support is inevitable,” he asserted.
When asked if there was a potential that Tinubu may get together with them once again in January before they chose a candidate, the politician said that the talks were still ongoing.
“It is a continuing conversation,” he added. The key is that Asiwaju must carry both our internal organisations and the citizens (candidates) within those states. Before choosing a pyrrhic triumph, Asiwaju must take these variables into account. He will consult with other party officials.
However, a PDP governor’s camp source corroborated the demand the governors made to Tinubu. But he added that a choice has been made regarding the governors’ backing of the APC nominee.
“Decisions have been made, and agreements have been reached.” In January, the news will be released. He promised that the public would be informed of the choices made.
Bayo Onanuga, who is in charge of media for the Tinubu-Shettima presidential campaign, didn’t want to say anything about the situation in his own name.
Onanuga said he didn’t know anything about the governors’ alleged conditions other than that they backed his boss.
“I don’t want to make any assumptions about this.” I’m not sure what was talked about. But I am aware that Bola Tinubu has the support of the G-5 governors. I’m at a point where I have to stop.
After all, the governors declared that they would choose a candidate by January. “Why not wait till they arrive?” he asked.
“The government’s offer is favorable.”
Additionally, Bashir Ahmad, a presidential advisor, tweeted on Thursday that the offer made by the five governors was “fantastically great.” That will undoubtedly aid in our victory. Let’s carry it out jointly.
Festus Keyamo, the spokesman for the Tinubu-Shettima presidential campaign council, also didn’t talk about the G-5 demands.
Instead, he attributed the PDP’s problems to the party’s leadership.
Keyamo said that he had known for a long time that the PDP would fall apart if the zoning process was thrown out so that Atiku Abubakar could be the party’s presidential nominee.
“The PDP has become a caricature that people now laugh at,” he said. Even before the primaries, we always knew the PDP would implode. We were anticipating it to occur.
“The PDP was too afraid to make the risky move, even though it was extremely clear to zone the presidency to the south.” However, if the Northern APC governors had not risen to the occasion and aggressively allocated the president to the South, the same thing might have happened to us.
“Even while the ruling party was dragging its feet on the matter, the governors grabbed the bull by the horns and zoned it to protect the APC from the PDP’s current implosion.” They ought to have carried this out. They actually got together in Asaba and decided that the South should get the president, but (Delta State governor, Ifeanyi) Okowa “stabbed them in the back.”
Following their meeting with Tinubu in the UK, there are indications that the disgruntled PDP governors will arrive in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, on Friday (today).
(PUNCH)
