PDP Crisis: Backing Another Party Will Be Difficult — Nwodo Teases G-5 Govs

• Bangs on Atiku’s pledge of restructuring, S-East presidency after eight years

BY ONYEKACHUKWU IBEZIM – Former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo, has cautioned the G-5 Governors to retrace their steps as they will find it difficult canvassing support for another party come this year’s general elections.

He said the G-5 Governors, aka ‘Integrity Group’, maybe the losers because convincing their supporters to vote for another party instead of the PDP would be an onerous task given the complexity of the electoral process.

According to Nwodo, three of the governors have Senatorial elections taking place on the same day as the presidential polls, and convincing their supporters to vote for candidates of different political parties on the ballot would be quite challenging.

Nwodo, who was elected Governor of Enugu State in January 1992 during the aborted Third Republic, said; “It is very clear that the four PDP governors out of the G-5 that have elections to contest are finding it difficult to campaign for another presidential candidate on the same day that their ballots would be thrown.

“The presidential election is the same day as the Senate election and three of them are running for Senate. It would be difficult to convince the people to vote for another party on that day and still vote for them on the PDP platform.

“Seyi Makinde is equally running for the governorship election and what happens in the presidential election will have an effect on the governorship election because there is likely to be a bandwagon effect that the presidential and Senatorial elections may affect what happens in the governorship and House of Assembly elections.

“With the way things are playing out now, I am sure that every camp would continue to struggle hard for the undecided voters which are still of reasonable number. That can still change the tide here and there”.

The PDP stalwart, who spoke at his Ukehe country home in Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu State, described the Party’s presidential flag bearer, Atiku Abubakar, as the best choice for Nigeria given his promise to restructure the country while also handing over the presidency to the South East zone after his eight-year tenure.

He explained that Atiku’s campaign promises tally with his position on the South-East zone’s collective interest, saying; “I have always said whether we are talking about Biafra or unknown gunmen, what the Federal Government owed the people of South East to stop all these agitations is to dialogue with us.

“There is no demand in South East today which the Federal Government cannot meet, but it has stoutly refused to dialogue with us. The result is these agitations here and there.

“Atiku Abubakar has said in rallies in Anambra and Imo States that he would dialogue with our people of South East. Already, some of us who have been working with him over time have made our demands known to him and he has pledged to restructure Nigeria, which some of us consider more important than the presidency.

“He equally promised to hand over power to an Igboman after serving out his tenure. That is why it is important for us to re-strategize on how to remain in Nigeria and to be able to have a government that would listen and talks with us. That would clear the insecurity in South East because the insecurity is a result of bottled-up anger.”

The former Enugu State governor, while maintaining that the PDP will, by and large, win this year’s elections, said; “The mileage being gained by the Labour Party in the South East and South South is because the people are angry and rightfully so”.