A member of the National Executive Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, Diran Odeyemi, has said contrary to public perception that Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, was working against the interest of the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar; the governor was a party man committed to the success of the party at the polls.
In a chat with Punch, Odeyemi said the governor, aware of his political future, was playing smart.
Recall that Makinde and Governors Nyesom Wike, Samuel Ortom, Okezie Ikpeazu, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Rivers, Benue, Abia, and Enugu states, respectively, had resigned their membership of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council in September 2022 in protest of Iyorchia Ayu’s continued stay as the national chairman of the party.
Led by Wike, the governors insisted that Ayu should leave office following Atiku’s victory at the presidential primary in May 2022 to make room for regional balance in the distribution of national and party offices in line with the PDP constitution.
The aggrieved governors, who formed the Integrity Group, were expected to name their preferred candidate this month but their inability to agree on a common choice has left them unable to declare their stand.
Speaking with Saturday PUNCH on the issue, Diran said, “Governor Makinde is playing smart and working for himself. He financed Atiku’s rally in Oyo state. All his men, apart from Taofeek Arapaja, the Deputy National Chairman (South), were at that rally and they all pledged their loyalty to the presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.”
So far, only Ortom has dumped Atiku, having ordered his aides and associates to begin mobilisation for the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi.
Makinde’s commitment to the Integrity Group’s cause has come under the spotlight in recent times. Although he avoids pro-Atiku events, the same cannot be said of his loyalist and ally, the Deputy Governor, Adebayo Lawal, who has been present at many such events.
