The G5 governors in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) appear to be in a fix on who they should lead their support in the February 2023 presidential election.
Governors Nyesom Wike (Rivers State), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Ifeanyi Ugwuayi (Enugu) and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) are not with their party’s flagbearer, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar on account of the refusal of the PDP national chairman, Dr.Iyorchia Ayu to quit his office despite promising to leave in the event of the emergence of a northerner as presidential candidate.
Sources close to the group told The Nation that the five governors are not on the same page on who they should now support among the leading presidential candidates outside of Atiku.
The governors and their supporters in the newly formed Integrity Group, are understood to have foreclosed the possibility of ever reconciling with Atiku or supporting his 2023 presidential ambition.
One of the sources said yesterday that the PDP leadership has refused to show any meaningful commitment to addressing the concerns of the G5 governors and other concerned stakeholders of the party ahead of the general elections.
“I don’t see any possibility of reconciliation. And this, I can tell you, is the current position of things within the Integrity Group led by the G5 governors of the PDP,” the source said over who the governors would support.
“The presidential candidate and the leadership of the party have refused to show commitment to the restructuring we seek within our party ahead of the general elections.
“Instead, they have been boasting that they can win presidency without us. How can people be shouting reconciliation on one hand and be boasting on the other hand? Who does that? The demands of the G5 governors are not personal. But they don’t seem to see it that way.”
Source: The Nation