Makinde to lose Guber ticket, Ortom, Ugwuanyi, Ikpeazu risk losing senate tickets as PDP threat to write INEC
The party allegedly threatened to write the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and notify the electoral body that it does not have any candidates for those positions.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged a threat move to expel the G-5 governors of the party if they move to endorse any presidential candidate other than Atiku Abubakar.
The G-5 governors are Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, Samuel Ortom of Benue State and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu states.
Sources gathered that if the party expelled G-5 governors, the implication is that Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde who is seeking re-election, will lose the right to be on the ballot.
It also affects three other governors; Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, Samuel Ortom of Benue State and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu states who seeking senatorial seats, they will no longer be candidates of the party going into the elections.
Ortom is contesting as the Benue North-West Senatorial District under the PDP ticket. Also, Ikpeazu is the PDP candidate for Abia South Senatorial District and Ugwuanyi is running for the Enugu North Senatorial District.
The party allegedly threatened to write the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and notify the electoral body that it does not have any candidates for those positions.
A reliable source, who is a member of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council disclosed that the main opposition party will dissolution of the party structures in the respective states of the G-5 governors and establish caretaker committees to run the affairs of the party in the five states.
According to the source who pleaded to remain anonymous, taking such action would also affect the political ambition of Makinde, who is seeking re-election as governor as well as Ugwuanyi, Ortom and Ikpeazu, who are all contesting for the Senatorial seats in their respective states.
“Dissolving the party structure will also affect their loyalists who are contesting for different positions under the PDP in Abia, Rivers, Oyo, Benue and Enugu,” the source added.
Recall that Governor Wike has been leading a team of five aggrieved governors of the PDP, known as the G-5, against the presidential candidate of their party, Atiku Abubakar.
The crisis started immediately after Wike lost the PDP presidential primary election to Atiku.
The Rivers governor has since then requested the resignation of the National Chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu, for being a northerner like Atiku.
Wike and the other four aggrieved PDP governors said it would be unfair to the South that the presidential candidate of the party and its national chairman are both from the North.
Since then, efforts to placate the governors to support Atiku have been abortive, as they threatened to work for another presidential candidate from the South, starting from January 2023.
Newsflash Nigeria learnt that the G-5 governors travelled to the United Kingdom on Monday to meet the former Lagos State governor and the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu,
According to the Punch Newspaper, the G-5 governors demanded the support of the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, for the PDP governorship and senatorial candidates in their respective states.
The report gathered on Thursday that this was part of the conditions presented to Tinubu during his meeting with the PDP governors in London, United Kingdom, on Tuesday.
But the PDP said on Thursday revealed that the party will not hesitate to bring the full weight of its constitution to bear on any member that goes contrary to its laid down rules and regulations no matter how highly placed.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Debo Ologunagba said that the party will not spare any member that violates the constitution of the party.
Ologunagba reacted while G-5 governors romance with APC presidential candidate Tinubu and some of them have tickets for the PDP.
Ologunagba disclosed that everything was still in the realm of speculation but if anything untoward happens, the PDP is a “Party that deals with rules and laws, we have our organs and processes and we follow our rules. The party takes action after due consideration of all the issues.
“So when those things happen, the constitution of the party will deal with them. We are a party that is very organised, united and concerned about the elections and Nigerian people, but that does not mean that if anybody, no matter how highly placed, goes contrary to the provision of the constitution of the party, the constitution will not kick in.”
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