Eleven days before the February 25 presidential election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors, also known as the G-5, appear to have lost steam, despite the fact that no reconciliation is in sight.
On February 25, 2023, eligible Nigerian voters will go to the polls to elect a new president who will lead the country for another four years, following President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year reign of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Many Nigerians are eager to use their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to judge candidates and political parties that have underperformed in the upcoming elections.
While the main opposition party, the PDP, appears to be in a better position to seize power from the APC, the crisis within the party, particularly with the Integrity Group of five governors known as G-5, has made it extremely difficult for the party to retake power from the APC. Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) are G-5 members.
In June 2022, when former Vice President Atiku Abubakar emerged as the party’s presidential candidate and Delta state governor Senator Ifeanyi Okowa was named his running mate, the PDP lost the relative peace it had been enjoying within its ranks. Subsequently, the party assembled a campaign council comprised of G-5 members. But the G-5 team, led by Wike, drew the battlelone when it withdrew from the campaign council.
The G-5 insisted that the National Chairman of the PDP, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, must resign in order for them to reverse their decision, since the PDP had violated its own constitution by abandoning the zoning arrangement. In addition, they argued that the position of National Chairman of the party must be filled by someone from the South in order to achieve balance, justice, and equity within the party, so they will not participate in the Atiku campaign council.
fairness to the leadership of the party, several unsuccessful attempts were made to reconcile with the group. The PDP presidential candidate continued his campaign after it became clear that the party leadership was not willing to give in to the demands of the G-5 by sacrificing Ayu as the condition for reconciliation.
If Dr. Ayu is to be removed from office, it must be done so in accordance with the laws establishing the grounds for such removal. In any case, you will recall that the very body authorized by law to initiate this removal from office has already given him a vote of confidence,” Atiku had stated in response to the calls for Ayu’s resignation.
Since the start of presidential campaigns on September 28, 2022, however, the PDP presidential candidate has visited numerous states for campaigning and stakeholder meetings, while the G-5 have been absent. Their refusal to participate in the party’s campaign activities did not come as a surprise because they had already made their position clear by demanding Ayu’s resignation.
In addition, the G-5 met with the presidential candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and his counterpart from the Labour Party, Peter Obi, in London with the hope of reaching an agreement; however, this was not to be. The G-5 members were unable to reach an agreement on which presidential candidate to back. Some supported Obi, while others supported Tinubu.
Intriguingly, while Ortom endorsed Obi and his co-ticket holder, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, for the presidential election, Wike boasted in December that the G-5 would announce their support for a presidential candidate in January. Regarding this, no announcements have been made as of yet. According to unconfirmed reports, Wike’s supporters may have pledged their support for the APC presidential candidate.
Already, it is evident that the G-5 group has run out of steam. They no longer meet regularly, nor do they travel the world for meetings as they did last year. In reality, both the PDP and Atiku would be committing the error of the century if they believed that the support of the five governors was meaningless.