OYO State Governor, Engr Seyi Makinde, has explained why a group of five governors in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), popularly known as G-5 Governors, began dissociating from the party’s presidential candidate, Mr Atiku Abubakar, after a meeting held in London in 2023.
Speaking at a live media interactive programme held on Tuesday in Ibadan, Mr Makinde said there was a series of events that happened after the PDP national convention that convinced the governors to withdraw their support for Mr Abubakar ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
“In 2023, we felt that after 8 years of President Buhari, the presidency should come to the South. I don’t believe that this will be a permanent solution, but this was what we felt at that time,” he said.
“In my party, Wike (Federal Capital Territory Minister) contested and I supported him, but Atiku Abubakar won. After the primaries, Atiku came to Ibadan and we told him, ‘you are a candidate from the North-East. Iyorcha Ayu, the PDP Chairman, is also from the North, and intelligence showed that you would make Aminu Tambuwal from the North-West the Director-General of your campaign. What then comes to the South? We could not agree on anything and he left.
READ ALSO: Wike promised to deliver PDP to Tinubu in 2027 – Seyi Makinde
“Then, we had a meeting in London, where we continued with the discussion. We told him, ‘allow us to remove Ayu and make Arapaja ( then National Vice Chairman of the PDP) the acting Chairman. He said we should give him two weeks. He came back to Nigeria and referred to us as small boys,” Mr Makinde further revealed.
He noted that the PDP must be re-organised to give Nigerians the kind of opposition they needed, noting that a one-party state, being fuelled by President Bola Tinubu’s government of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was dangerous for democracy.
“You need to have a party. You need to have a competitive environment for politics to thrive. We have to go beyond the PDP and have, first, the competitive environment,” he said.
PDP worsening crisis
The PDP is hard hit by crisis, which has now divided the party into 2 factions. Since the 2023 elections, 7 governors of the party have defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), including Mr Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta), Mr Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), Peter Mbah (Enugu), Douye Diri (Bayelsa), Siminalayi Fubara (Rivers), and Agbu Kefas (Taraba).
To add insult to injury, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Tuesday, rejected the Tanimu Turaki (SAN)-led National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, citing subsisting court judgments and unresolved legal processes.
in a letter dated December 22 and addressed to the Turaki-led NWC lawyers, Akintayo Balogun & Co, and signed by Dr Rose Oriaran-Anthony, Secretary to the Commission, entitled, ‘Re: Demand for Recognition and Update of the List of the National Officers Elected at the Purported 2025 Elective National Convention of PDP,’ said it could not recognise or update the list of PDP national officers elected at the November convention.
“The commission has carefully considered the demands in the light of all material facts, extant laws, and most importantly, subsisting court judgments touching directly on the subject matter.
“You may wish to note that there are two subsisting final judgments of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, namely: Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/2120/2025, Austine Nwachukwu & 2 Ors. v. INEC & 8 Ors., delivered on October 31, 2025; and Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/2299/2025, Alhaji Sule Lamido v. PDP & 4 Ors., delivered on November 14, 2025.
“Both judgments, which are final in nature and binding on all parties, expressly restrained the commission from supervising, monitoring, recognising, or in any manner whatsoever accepting the outcome of the PDP National Convention held on November 15 and 16, 2025, or any other date, pending compliance with the orders of the court.
“While the commission is aware that notices of appeal have been filed against the said judgments, it is settled law that the mere filing of an appeal does not operate as a stay of execution. Until the said judgments are set aside or stayed by a competent court, the commission remains bound to obey and give full effect to them, in line with Section 287(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).”
Mr Makinde, on Tuesday, alleged that Mr Wike promised to hold the PDP for President Bola Tinubu in 2027. “I was with the President. The President’s Chief of Staff was also in that meeting. The Minister of the FCT was in that meeting too. Wike told the President right there that he would hold the PDP for him. When we went outside, I asked him,’is that what we agreed?’ That is just the issue I have with him.The President did not ask him to do that, but maybe he wanted to run an errand that he was not sent to do,” Mr Makinde told senior journalists.
He further vowed that he would not support the idea of backing President Tinubu in 2027, stressing that a one party state was dangerous for democracy.
