To finalise the deal on the 2023 presidency, the Governor Nyesom Wike-led G5 governors in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are set to meet with the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, according to a report by Daily Trust newspaper.
The newspaper quoted a reliable source close to the former Lagos State governor to have said that barring any last-minute change, the meeting would be held in one of the European countries this week.
The source, who refused to give the exact date of the meeting, however, said it was being convened to firm up their deal on the 2023 presidency with the governors.
He said the PDP G-5 governors, comprising Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), would after the meeting make their preferred presidential candidate known to the public.
Tinubu was said to most likely benefit from the endorsement.
The governors, it was gathered, are already in the United Kingdom ahead of the meeting.
“The support by G-5 for Tinubu is going to be a game changer, akin to the declaration of the G6 for the APC in 2014.
“We are meeting with the group this week in Europe to firm up the arrangement. They are first-class nationalists who believe in the Nigeria project and we shall work together for the good of the nation,” he said.
Arising from the presidential primary election of the PDP that produced a former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, Daily Trust reports that there has been a crisis rocking the leading opposition party.
The nomination of the Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as the vice presidential candidate worsened the internal wrangling with the five governors calling for the head of the national chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu.
Several efforts by the various organs of the party to pacify the governors have hit the rock.
Efforts to get the reaction of the aggrieved governors yielded no results as the spokesperson for Wike, Kelvin Ebiri and Makinde’s spokesperson, Taiwo Adisa, did not pick up their calls at the time of filing this report.
But Wike had on Thursday said he would disclose his preferred presidential candidate in January 2023.
Speaking, while inaugurating a project in Port Harcourt, Wike said he would not only tell his people who to vote for but would campaign for his choice of presidential candidate throughout the country.
He declared that “Nothing will happen.”
“So, all of you who have been in suspense, who have been saying all kinds of things, abusing me; wait, January is here,” he said.
In October, the Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, on whose behalf his deputy, Bayo Lawal, spoke, haf endorsed the candidature of Tinubu.
Similarly, the Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom had in November said he would not support Atiku’s presidential bid.
Ortom, who spoke when he hosted his colleagues in Makurdi, said “To hell with Atiku and anyone supporting him. They should go and tell him. You want me to be a slave for a Fulani. It’s better I die. Anybody supporting Atiku is an enemy of Benue” (Daily Trust)
Stay ahead with the latest updates! Join The ConclaveNG on WhatsApp and Telegram for real-time news alerts, breaking stories, and exclusive content delivered straight to your phone. Don’t miss a headline — subscribe now!
