Yesterday, governors who support Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers State, skipped the opening of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council.
Governors Samuel Ortom of Benue, Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, and Wike are among them.
Party leaders who support the Wike campaign also avoided the ceremony’s venue, the International Conference Centre in Abuja.
Governors from the PDP who support Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the party’s presidential candidate, did, however, attend the ceremony.
Among them are the governors of Bauchi, Bayelsa, Edo, Godwin Obaseki, and Adamawa; Darius Ishaku of Taraba; Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom; Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta; and Aminu Tambuwal of Tambuwal (Sokoto).
Chief Bode George, the PDP National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, and former president Goodluck Jonathan, who was mentioned as guests of honor, were also not there. Ayu’s replacement, Deputy National Chairman (North), Umar Damagum, explained his absence as being caused by illness.
Atiku and the Wike camp have been at odds over Atiku’s refusal to heed the five governors’ demand that Ayu be replaced by a different candidate from the South.
A National Executive Committee (NEC) member, Chief Chinemerem Madu, however, claimed that a national deputy chairman set up a N28 million bribe for a certain NEC member in order to obstruct the campaign council’s work.
Atiku proposed reorganizing government at the inauguration, arguing that the current structure favors the center at the expense of the federating units.
He said: “Our system of government is broken. Our current system is unfair, unwieldy, skewed towards favouring the Federal Government at the expense of other federating units, and has in itself, become a willing tool for underdevelopment.
“This system of government is no longer suited to the challenges of a 21st Century economy that works for everyone and that is needed to bring development closer to our people.
“But all hope is not lost. We have a plan to address these issues and to arrest the drift of our nation. These plans have been laid in our document titled: “My Covenant With Nigerians”.
