Ignore G-5 At Your Own Peril, Ortom Warns PDP
In the aftermath of the crisis rocking the party, the national leadership of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, may have called the bluff and moved on with campaigns ahead of the 2023 general election without five aggrieved governors but they would be doing so at their own peril.
Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, who sounded the warning yesterday, reiterated the call on the leadership of the party to deploy internal mechanism to resolve the wrangling within the party.
Speaking during the inauguration of state campaign council and management team at the party’s secretariat in Makurdi, the governor said failure to do so may mar PDP’s chances in the 2023 general polls.
He also announced the donation of 25 Hilux vehicles by his Rivers State counterpart, Governor Nyesom Wike, to the state campaign council.
Ortom, Wike, their Oyo, Abia and Enugu counterparts, Seyi Makinde, Okezie Ikpeazu and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, had been at loggerheads with the leadership of the party since the presidential primary that produced Atiku as the party’s presidential candidate.
At a point, some party members urged Atiku to move on since the governors who are now referred to as the G-5 have refused to shift ground on the sack of the national chairman, Iyorcha Ayu.
But Ortom rekindled hope of reconciliation yesterday when he insisted that the party’s internal crisis resolution mechanism must be deployed, adding that the PDP must listen to the voice of reason to solve the lingering crisis.
He said, “Those who say five governors do not matter are saying it at their own peril. It is impossible to move forward with this crisis. If the candidate and leadership of the party comes out in sincerity and open up to resolve the issues, we will work together. I am working for PDP but where a particular person says that Ortom does not matter, that is where we have issues.
“We do not have issues with the candidate but those who say that 5 governors do not matter. There is no way you can dismiss the issues that are being raised by the 5 governors. Let there be a committee where the issues will be tabled and resolved. If this is not done, I do not guarantee what will happen in 2023.”
The Venue governor noted that PDP in the state is not in contest with any other party, adding that the main opposition party, APC, did not follow due process in the conduct of its governorship primaries, and therefore the party may not feature any candidate during the 2023 governorship election.
