PHOTOS: Tinubu meets with members of PDP G5 in Aso Rock

June 08

17:27 2023

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President Bola Tinubu is currently meeting with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains known as G5.

The meeting commenced around 4pm on Thursday at the presidential villa, Abuja.

Members of the G5 include Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo state; Nyesom Wike, former governor of Rivers state; and Samuel Ortom, the immediate past governor of Benue.

Others are Okezie Ikpeazu and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, the former governors of Abia and Enugu, respectively.

While the details of the meeting are not yet known, it may not be unconnected to Tinubu’s consultations regarding the formation of his cabinet.

THE G5 AND PDP CRISIS

The G5 — a sub-entity of the Integrity Group of the PDP — rose to prominence after Atiku Abubakar won the PDP’s presidential primary election in May 2022.

Prior to the election, the party stakeholders who formed Integrity Group had demanded that the presidential ticket be zoned to the south in line with the rotation system in the party’s constitution.

Following Atiku’s primary election victory, the G5 called for Iyorchia Ayu’s resignation as the party’s national chairman.

The group based its argument on the premise that the presidential candidate and chairman cannot be from the same region. But Ayu stayed put, and as a result, the G5 members abstained from the PDP presidential campaign.

Wike and his allies had their way in March when Ayu was suspended by his ward over alleged anti-party activities. A federal high court subsequently barred him from acting as the party’s chairperson.

Among the G5 members, Makinde won reelection as governor while three others – Ortom, Ikpeazu, and Ugwuanyi – failed in their bids to secure senatorial seats.

Sim Fubara, Wike’s preferred candidate, won the election to succeed him as Rivers state governor.

In May, after the presidential poll, Tinubu said he could not have won without the support of Wike.

“I went through a gruesome campaign, fought hard, supported by many of you and I won. Fair and square. Nyesom, I say thank you for your contribution to my victory,” Tinubu said.