The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seems to have festered as the beginning of campaigns for the 2023 General Election began on a shaky note for the party as no fewer than five governors shunned the official inauguration of the party’s Presidential Campaign Council.
The governors who boycotted the inauguration are Nyesom Wike of Rivers State; Seyi Makinde of Oyo State; Samuel Ortom of Benue State; Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State; and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State.
They are governors in the camp of Wike. Some other stakeholders believed to be loyal to Governor Wike were also absent at the inauguration which took place at the International Conference Centre, Abuja on Wednesday.
However, the remaining PDP Governors loyal to the party’s presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar attended the event.
They were: Governors Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), Diri Duoye (Bayelsa), Godwin Obaseki (Edo), Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa); Darius Ishaku (Taraba), Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom), Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta) and Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto).
It would be recalled that Wike and his supporters have been on a warpath with the national leadership as well as the presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the aftermath of the continued stay in office of the National Chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu and the subsequent emergence of the Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as the vice-presidential candidate ahead of Wike.
