• Political realities, infiltration of state PDP chapters by Atiku’s men make endorsement risky

From Fred Itua, Abuja

Three weeks to the presidential election, the group of five Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors, who are opposed to the emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the standard-bearer of the party, may have abandoned their planned endorsement of another candidate.

Referred to as G-5 governors, the state executives had been mobilising against Atiku’s election, citing many reasons why his choice as the presidential candidate of the party was wrong.

The five governors are Nyesom Wike of Rivers State; Seyi Makinde of Oyo State; Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State; Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State; and Samuel Ortom of Benue State. The aggrieved governors, led by Wike, in late 2022, held series of meetings with Atiku; the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP). After the meetings, Wike had revealed that the aggrieved governors were going to announce their preferred candidate before the end of January 2023. They’ve since reneged on that promise.

Saturday Sun gathered that one of the G-5 governors met with some stakeholders in Abuja during the week, where he made some revelations and also explained why they were in a fix on how to proceed.

According to the source who attended the meeting, the planned move by the G-5 governors to publicly endorse Tinubu or Obi has since been abandoned.

He said the governors are faced with tough realities in the various state chapters of the PDP, where many of the members are unwilling to align with them and work against Atiku. 

He said since the meeting of the governors in early January, no serious discussions have been held since then. He said with the current political realities in Enugu, Abia and Rivers States, it will be politically suicidal to publicly endorse Tinubu or Obi.

According to the stakeholder, one of the G-5 governors said endorsing Obi for instance in Abia and Enugu where the Labour Party’s candidate is popular may cause the PDP its victory. He said the governors were prevailed upon by their political associates to jettison the idea and work for their respective candidates discretely in order not to incur the wrath of the people.

 “Endorsing Tinubu for instance in Rivers, Enugu, Abia or Benue will be stupid. The people will revolt against their governors. They know. The only place where the people may accept Tinubu will be in Oyo State,” the source who attended the meeting revealed.

Making further revelations, he said: “Wike has vowed not to support Atiku. He’s secretly funding the campaign of one of the other candidates in Rivers State. His thousands of political aides have been instructed and they’re working already.

“There are some PDP members in Rivers State who have vowed not to work for Tinubu. They’re working for Atiku while some others are for Obi. 

“Abia and Enugu State governors are smart politicians. They want to be Senators and they know the backlash they would both face if Atiku wins and they too become senators. They are not campaigning for or against Atiku or any other Presidential candidate.

“Governor Ortom has said he would not support another Fulani man as President after eight years of President Buhari. But he has not told members of the PDP in the state not to support Atiku. Members of the PDP in Benue State can support Atiku if they want.

“Governor Makinde is also not openly campaigning against Atiku, although many people believe he would support Tinubu. So, Atiku appears to have weathered the storm and unless something stops him, he may just be the next president of Nigeria. The odds appear to favour him right now.

 “Atiku’s men have infiltrated the G-5 states. They’ve made juicy promises they can’t reject. The next three weeks will be crucial. As for any possible reconciliation, the PDP and the G-5 governors have passed that stage.”