Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, who is also the G-5’s youth leader, has clarified contentious issues brewing in the PDP.
According to Makinde, who appeared live on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday and monitored by Truth Live News, the reason for the formation of the G-5 is the Party’s Chairman’s disrespect for the PDP constitution, which provides for power rotation.
Makinde, taking a swipe at Ayu, the PDP National Chairman, said it is hypocritical for someone who has stated that the position of chairman will be given to someone from the South if the party’s presidential flagbearer is from the North.
Furthermore, the Oyo governor stated that the demands of the G5 or Integrity Group – five aggrieved PDP governors rallying against the “unjust” party leadership – were about protecting national interests rather than personal ambitions.
His words: “If I will tell you precisely what is going on, the unity of this country is at stake. When they said, ‘Rotate. Let there be inclusivity. Get zone party positions – rotate it,’ it’s because we know that our federalism has not taken serious root.
“So, to compensate for some of the things that we don’t have constitutionally right now, we said, ‘Rotate the positions, do zoning.’ Now, we’ve disregarded that.
“The National Chairman himself was the one that made that comment that peradventure somebody from the northern part of the country emerges as the presidential candidate, he will resign.
“But now you are saying the constitution must be followed. This is the constitution we’ve flagrantly disregarded in the first instance.”
The governor called to question the recent dissolution of the PDP’s State Working Committee in Ekiti State.
“They said almost six months ago that ‘this is too close to an election to start asking the national chairman to resign.’
“But less than how many days ago, they dissolved the entire exco in Ekiti State. So, that dissolution is not too close to an election?” he asked.
Makinde did not hesitate to commend his counterparts of northern descent in the opposition who expressed support for a southerner becoming the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate.
“I must give kudos to the governors on the platform of APC – governors like Governor Nasir El-Rufai [of Kaduna], Governor [Mohammed Abubakar] of Jigawa, Mai Bala Buni [of Yobe], Governor [Yahaya Bello] of Kogi.
“They came together within their party and they said, ‘For the unity of this country, let us sacrifice our ambition. Let the presidency rotate to the South.’ So, we must give kudos to them.
“But what happened in our own party? We were fighting ourselves and saying, ‘Our constitution can go to blazes.’ I don’t think that is right,” he said.
The governor believes that the principles on which he and the other G5 members are standing will go down in history.
“The Integrity Governors are not in this to say, ‘We’re trying to prove that we’re right or wrong.’
“We’re standing on a principle and if you stand on a principle, whether you’re right or you’re wrong, may thou be left for posterity because all of this will come and go.
“In another four weeks, the election will have been won and lost, and then we’ll be faced with the judgement of posterity.”