There are indications on Monday that moves by the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, to persuade aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party governors to embrace peace have failed.
Emmanuel had a few days ago met with the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom; and his Rivers State counterpart, Nyesom Wike, in Port Harcourt as part of efforts to appeal to the aggrieved governor to support the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
It was a last-minute attempt by the governor to convince his counterparts to give peace a chance.
This came to the fore on Monday as the aggrieved governors are scheduled to visit Ibadan on Thursday for the inauguration of their Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde’s campaign.
Wike, Ortom, Makinde Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State and some political heavyweights from the South had parted ways with the PDP presidential candidate over his alleged refusal to prevail on the PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, to resign after Atiku, a northerner, clinched the presidential ticket of the party.
The governors insisted that Ayu’s resignation would ensure a balance in the leadership of the main opposition party.An associate of the Benue State governor, who confided in The PUNCH, said there was no going back in the decision of the five aggrieved governors to dump the party’s presidential candidate.Meanwhile, the five governors will on Thursday be in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital for the flag-off of Makinde’s second-term campaign rally.
The national secretariat of the PDP said in an interview that all the five governors have pledged their availability for the event.
“You know they are more than colleagues now. Whatever affects one affects the others. They are in solidarity with whoever among them is celebrating or marking any special event. As usual, Wike, the leader of the group will be there alongside the others.
“Even though they are members of the PDP, they are going about their campaigns as if they have a different party. They are in a world of their own, riding on the influence of their executive powers to call the bluff of the party,” he said.
