In London, the five disgruntled governors of the People’s Democratic Party met with Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress.
During Tuesday’s long meeting, the APC candidate is said to have asked the five governors for their support.
Iyorchia Ayu, the National Chairman of the PDP, refused to step down after Atiku won the party’s nomination for president. As a result, governors Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Samuel Ortom (Benue), and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu state, as well as some political heavyweights from the South,
A few hours after the governors met with Tinubu, the PDP said they didn’t know what they talked about with the ruling party’s presidential candidate and that they thought the governors were on vacation in the UK.
However, the main opposition party stressed that it has the authority to punish the governors for any anti-party behaviour and threatened to do so.
The dissatisfied governors were met by Tinubu and a team that included Kayode Fayemi, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, one other governor, and an ex-governor on Tuesday, according to a source who shed light on the London encounter. We are currently anticipating the official announcement from the G-5 governors in January.
The insider said he didn’t want to guess what the angry governors wanted, so he wouldn’t say what they wanted.
“I don’t have any specifics on that.” “What I do know is that they got together and indicated during the meeting that they weren’t backing any other candidate,” he said.
According to a source in the Lagos State Government House, “I can assure you that the governor is still in Nigeria.” I have received multiple inquiries regarding this allegation of the governor’s alleged travel with Asiwaju (Tinubu). In fact, we spoke twice today (Wednesday). “Even if he were to leave the country to meet with the G-5 Governors, he wouldn’t want to publicise it because he is still very much inside the nation.”
Tim Osadalor, a member of the PDP National Working Committee, said that if the governors follow through on their threat to abandon the party’s presidential candidate, the party has the power to punish them. This is because the governors are said to be working with Tinubu.
The governors’ warning to support a presidential candidate of their choosing was nothing new, according to Chief Dele Momodu of the National Campaign Committee of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council.
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But he asked the Wike-led bloc to follow through on its commitment so that the election management committee could respond effectively.
“This supposition is nothing new,” he said. The party has tried everything to have these difficulties resolved, but to no effect. I can thus only advise that they formalise their position at this point.
We cannot go on in this manner. Since Governor Wike’s defeat to Atiku Abubakar in the primary election, they have been making this threat. We tried our best as a party to make amends and find a solution. Atiku favoured peace, but you can’t say the same for the opposing camp.
“The subject of Iyorchia Ayu, the party’s chairman, is an old one. No one is listening anymore. A significant election is coming up, and we are prepared to win. The PDP is just too important to be sidetracked.
“Ifs” cannot be answered by us. We can discuss the matter after they formulate their viewpoint on the person they are backing. Let’s wait for them and observe their response.
A source in Wike’s camp responded to Olafeso’s confidence that reconciliation could still be achieved by insisting that it was too late for the governors to support Atiku.
“Regarding Wike, the PDP has treated him very terribly, as can be seen by any right-thinking person,” he declared. Even from the opposite perspective, we might assert that injustice exists. They can claim that individuals like us lack the authority to discuss the internal matters of that party.
“The truth of the matter is that the G-5 governors’ conflict is not solely centred on PDP internal problems.” It is based on issues related to the nation’s geopolitical balance. So, it transcends PDP-specific issues. You’ll concur with me in saying that these are significant issues of national significance.
They might immediately bring up our problem, which might involve religion. Let me say that when it comes to rotation and balancing in the nation, geo-political balancing—not religious balancing—has always existed and been of utmost significance. The unfairness within the PDP is more fundamental and deeply rooted than anyone can imagine.We therefore feel quite sympathetic with Wike’s and other people’s hardships.
The Minister of State for Labour also said that while the APC wants to strengthen its position, it won’t mind taking advantage of the problem that is still bothering the PDP, which is the party in opposition.
Politics, in his opinion, is all about interests, and he is confident that the G-5 will likely weigh the costs before endorsing a particular presidential candidate in the run-up to the 2023 elections.
“On our end, we continue to advance as a party,” he continued. You should be aware that our party is large enough to take many interests into account without my making a precise statement about whether or not the G-5 governors will join us or whether they are in negotiations with us.
“We have previously demonstrated that in many American states.” If Wike chooses to reach out to us, and if he chooses to approach the APC, I don’t believe there is any reason to be afraid at all. He can be accommodated in the APC and might even feel happier than he did when he was in charge of the PDP.
