Tinubu, Obi divide G5 governors as decision stalls

If indications are anything to go by, the five aggrieved Governors on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have hit a snag in their quest for a candidate to back in the 2023 presidential election.

According to Saturday Punch, the G5 which includes governors, Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, who is the leader of the team; Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State and Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, are yet to agree on the presidential candidate to support with less than 60 days to the election.

The group had embarked on a trip to London earlier in the week amid speculations that they would hold a series of meetings before reaching a decision on who to back between the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and the Labour Party's Peter Obi.

However, reports have it that the aggrieved governors failed to reach a consensus on the matter.

Sources confirmed to the paper that the respective ambitions and interests of the G5 and its expanded Integrity Group, comprising some former governors and party bigwigs, had become major impediments to agreeing on a unanimous position.

Makinde's re-election bid as governor on the PDP platform as well as Ortom, Ugwuanyi, and Ikpeazu's quests for senatorial seats in their respective districts have become knotty issues that require a tactful approach by the G5.

Wike, the most vocal among them, is not contesting any position in the forthcoming elections, even though the PDP governorship candidate in Rivers is his preferred choice and the governor has been campaigning for him.

It was gathered that the group, after their reported meeting with Tinubu in London, decided not to openly campaign for any presidential candidate, including Atiku, in order not to jeopardise their chances in the election.

The source's words: “Many people know that former President Olusegun Obasanjo sold the candidacy of Peter Obi to them. He wants the governors to back the former Anambra State governor. Some initially embraced the former President’s suggestion out of respect for him.

“However, it was clear that Obi might not win the election, so the reality of this dawned on the governors and they discussed it, but they did not take a position.

“You also know that the presidential candidate of the APC sent emissaries to the governors before he personally met them. He had negotiated with them, especially Wike. But the other governors are afraid that such a negotiation could work against them in their states.

“The APC and its presidential candidate are not very popular in the South-East. In fact, the people of the zone are angry with some comments said to have been made by the vice-presidential candidate of the APC (Kashim Shettima) some time ago. This was why the people walked out on him in Imo State when members of the party went there for consultation.”