In my previous piece a few weeks ago, I had sued for the accommodation of the interest of the G-5 governors which is led by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state. In that piece titled: “Can Ayu make the sacrifice?” I advocated the pacification of the seemingly implacable G-5 governors through the resignation of the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, for peace to reign. Governor Wike, having lost both the presidential and the vice presidential positions, can never back down on his demand for the resignation of the national chairman. He has gone too far in his gallery display to swallow his ego for Ayu to remain as the national chairman.
Therefore, the PDP presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, should never expect the G-5 governors, particularly Wike, to lose the latest battle just the way he lost the two previous ones. Atiku should bend backwards to also accommodate G-5’s ego and idiosyncrasies. Atiku and Ayu should not always expect to win every internal battle in the party, especially this extant one. This is the time to stoop low to conquer, it’s time to massage Wike’s ego for the party to go into the general elections in one accord.
Before the end of this January, the national chairman should convene the meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the party where he should announce his resignation to cede the slot to the G-5 to do as they wish. The most important thing is winning the presidential election next month, and every sacrifice is worth making for that to be realised. Being a national chairman of the PDP for even decades without capturing the presidency is useless.
Recent reports speculated that the G-5 and the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, met in London to negotiate an agreement to support each other. Tinubu, through his media office, had denied the meeting. However, the G-5 governors have yet to deny the meeting. The G-5 governors should be wary of Tinubu to save their political future.
Of the five governors of the G-5, four of them are candidates in the forthcoming general elections for various positions. First, if they lend their support to Tinubu of the APC, and he eventually wins the presidential election, he will disappoint the G-5 governors.
Since there’s a space or interval of two weeks in the presidential election, the National Assembly, the governorship and the State Houses of Assembly elections, once Tinubu collects his Certificate of Return as duly elected, Oyo state will be swept away by the bandwagon effect that would follow suit. Governor Seyi Makinde will lose his second term even after supporting Tinubu two weeks earlier. Tinubu himself will convince the Oyo electorate to join the central government by supporting the governorship candidate of the APC in the state.
In Abia state, Chief Ikechi Emenike of the APC will also win the gubernatorial election. Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, the current Chief Whip of the Senate, will join forces with Tinubu and Emenike to defeat PDP in Abia state. In Rivers state, the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Senator Magnus Abe, would be provided with enormous force by Tinubu to win the state by defeating the PDP candidate who’s Wike’s choice.
Tinubu will sacrifice the APC in Rivers state because of his frosty political relationship with Rotimi Amaechi. Don’t forget that Senator Magnus Abe is a strong supporter of Tinubu. He was in APC until Tinubu won the presidential ticket, and also played a major role in Tinubu’s victory in the primary election.
In Benue state, the governorship candidate of the APC is a very popular Reverend Father. All he needs to win the election is APC winning the presidential election first, then the bandwagon effect will sweep him straight into office seamlessly. The APC may not win in Enugu state because they have a very weak governorship and senatorial candidates unlike the PDP and the Labour Party (LP).
By the way, among the G-5 governors, the governors of Abia, Benue and Enugu states are senatorial candidates. The presidential and the National Assembly elections would be conducted on the same day and at the same time. Once a voter is accredited to vote, three sheets of ballot papers – the presidential, the senate and the House of Representatives – would be issued to the eligible voter. How would illiterate voters distinguish or separate the three ballot papers to vote only the National Assembly candidates for PDP and another candidate in Rivers state? How would an old mama in the village be able to make the distinction?
The G-5 governors would shoot themselves on their feet if they go ahead to support Tinubu of the APC. Should Tinubu win the election, Nigeria will be forced to a one-party state because a federal government under the leadership of Tinubu will strangulate both the PDP and the LP just like he has done in Lagos state for the past 24 years. A word should be enough for the wise.
Maduako writes from Owerri, Imo state, via [email protected]
