After declaring his opposition to the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Governor Seyi Makinde faced opposition from some PDP officials in Oyo State.
On Wednesday, they spoke at the emergency gathering of the party’s leaders from the state’s 33 local government areas in Ibadan.
They publicly endorsed Atiku, who Makinde and four other PDP governors are attempting to defeat.
On Saturday, Makinde stated on a live radio broadcast that he and other PDP governors who felt wronged would not support the party’s presidential nominee.
The National Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, resigned from office to allow a southerner to fill the job. The other four governors have not concealed their support for Atiku and have promised not to work for him.
Makinde wasn’t speaking for the PDP in the state, according to one of the party’s leaders, Dr. Wole Oyelese, a former minister of mines and steel development.
He declared that PDP leaders would labor and win the state for the party’s 2023 presidential nominee, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
“A good politician won’t speak like that,” Oyelese remarked. Even if Makinde claims he won’t work for Atiku, it means nothing. He is by himself! It is a meaningless threat! Who are we voting for if he advised against supporting Atiku? In Oyo state, we are too intelligent for such. Although Makinde is a newbie to Oyo State politics, we’ll keep fighting for our party.
We are, however, working particularly hard for Atiku. I would advise any candidate seeking to win in Oyo State to adopt a more mainstream position. The party’s state leadership can be characterized as mainstream.
What is the Yoruba perspective on the issue Makinde is raising? No position is available to us. Baba Adebanjo is stating one thing while Pa Fasoranti is saying another. There is no vacancy available for us in Yorubaland. Our members are still devoted and steadfast. Because it’s our party, we can’t let it fall apart.
Femi Babalola, a different PDP leader, claimed that the governor is also responsible for the criticisms he leveled at the PDP’s presidential candidate.
“He who seeks equality must do so with pure hands. I analyze problems since I’m an engineer. I began by asking myself, “Is it wise for a northerner to succeed a northerner?”
Is it beneficial for an Ibadan man to succeed an Ibadan man who served for eight years, is another query. Why then is Makinde provoking another individual while he was the one who gained from such? Although he didn’t see anything wrong with that, he continued, “It is wrong when it is Atiku.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Oyo State, Taiwo Adisa, responded to a query from our correspondent by stating that Makinde and the other disgruntled governors have never declared they would support any other presidential candidate.
Governor Makinde and his colleagues, including Governors Nyesom Wike, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Samuel Ortom, and Okezie Ikpeazu, were quoted as saying, “Governor Makinde and his colleagues have consistently said they will focus their campaigns on the PDP candidates in their states if the PDP system will not do the necessary on the issue concerning the national Chairman.
“They have not stated that they will support any other presidential contender,”
Additionally, Mr. Akeem Olatunji, the PDP publicity secretary in Oyo State, claimed in a separate interview with our correspondent that Makinde had never begun supporting a candidate from another party.
“Governor Seyi Makinde has indicated that all PDP candidates will win in Oyo State at various fora,” he said. Who else wants anything else now?
“Aside from Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, are there any other presidential candidate parties? There is no mystery there other than some people trying to attract attention. Most likely, they’re attempting to be sneaky.
We only know that everything is being done to ensure that all of our candidates succeed in Oyo State. Seyi Makinde, the governor, has never declared another individual to be his own presidential candidate.
