From Tony John, Port Harcourt

Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, has said his team, The Integrity Governors, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were open for reconciliation.

He stated this when G-5, which include Governors Samuel Ortom of Bauchi State, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, paid a solidarity visit to their counterpart of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, yesterday.

Ortom, who is also leader of the PDP Governors’ Integrity Group met Governor Mohammed at the Government House hours after he visited the presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, at his Abuja residence.

Wike, who apologised on behalf of Oyo Governor Seyi Makinde, who could not make the trip due to other engagements outside the country, said they visited  to offer their support over the challenges Mohammed was facing within the party and to see areas they can help in his re-election bid.

Wike and his allies have been at loggerheads with the party after he lost the PDP presidential primary. The team is demanding the resignation of Iyorchia Ayu as national chairman and have pulled out of the party’s presidential campaign. Several reconciliation moves have failed.

But Governor Wike told Mohammed that because the PDP integrity governors were the pillars of the party, they have kept their doors open and ready for genuine reconciliation.

“I have stated severally that we have never closed the door for reconciliation. All we are calling for is equity, fairness, and justice. In fact, that is the hallmark that PDP stands for. All we are saying is, ‘Look, let the right thing be done.’ If the right thing is done, the whole country would know that the election is over. This G5 you are seeing is the bedrock of the party so we would not close the door for reconciliation So, we can’t close the door for reconciliation. We are open for reconciliation anyday, anytime,” he declared.

Ortom  apologised for the remark he made on Sunday when he hosted the G5 governors in Makurdi that anybody supporting Atiku was an enemy of Benue and that he would not be a slave to the Fulani.

“That was not what I meant when I was captured saying that but all the same I know it will amount to logical fallacy if people have taken it the way I did. But I want to say to those who I have offended by my remarks I don’t mean that, I’m sorry about that,” he said.

Governor Mohammed said he had always been a part of the G-5 but was not carried along somewhere down the line.

“I am supposed to be with them but they ex-communicated me for some reasons best known to them but l am highly connected to each and every one of them. There is no day l don’t speak with them. In politics you go with the people you share things in common with. The presidency has brought us closer and one thing l appreciate with is that they look at your challenges even though they are not going for a second term. Their own principle might be different from me but certainly, I feel their pains as much as they feel my own pain. We share so much in common,” he said.

The visit came after Daily Sun reported that Mohammed had threatened to leave the party’s presidential campaign council after accusing Atiku of trying to sabotage his re-election bid.

In a letter written to the national chairman of the party, Iyorcha Ayu, dated November 3, 2022 and obtained by Daily Sun, Mohamed alleged that Atiku had threatened to “punish” him for contesting against him during the party’s presidential primary.

The Bauchi governor alleged that Atiku had allowed political opportunists to ride on his back to wreck vengeance him and that despite complaining to the presidential candidate and his running mate as well as party elders, he said the treachery has escalated under the watchful eyes of Atiku who he said is the leader of the groups.