TheCable

Olukayode Ariwoola, the chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), says he is elated that Seyi Makinde, the Oyo governor, is a member of the “Integrity Group”.

Ariwoola said this on Thursday during a dinner held in his honour by Wike, the Rivers governor, in Port Harcourt. 

The Integrity Group includes five Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors — Wike of Rivers, Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Samuel Ortom of Benue, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu — and is also dubbed the “G5”.

The five governors are among PDP stakeholders calling for the removal of Iyorchia Ayu, the PDP chairman, on the grounds that he is a northerner like Atiku Abubakar, the party’s presidential candidate. 

Ariwoola, an Oyo indigene, said with Makinde’s inclusion in the Integrity Group, he believes the Oyo governor will imitate Wike on project delivery.

Wike is completing a second term in office, while Makinde is seeking re-election.

“This man (Wike), I understand he will continue to commission projects till his last day in office. There are projects wide open, all over the place, and that is why we should not be scared to have these men of the integrity group,” Ariwoola said.

“And I am happy that my own governor is among them because he would try to imitate his friend and in-law, because we came here to marry for my governor.

“So, governor Wike will always threaten that he will call back his sister if my governor fails to play ball. That is why you see him following his excellency (Wike), because my governor is afraid of his wife being recalled.”