ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Ahead of the 2023 presidential election, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and his allies, known as the G-5, have jetted out of the country to the United Kingdom in order to ratify the endorsement of their candidate.
The five Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) aggrieved Governors are out to endorse the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, for the 2023 general elections, sources close to them told Daily Independent on Tuesday.
The sources revealed further that, while in the United Kingdom, the five Governors will strategize on what to do and how to ensure that their chosen presidential candidate wins the 2023 presidential election.
Speaking with Daily Independent, on Tuesday, one of the sources privy to the meetings of the G-5, said that the UK meeting is to ratify their decision on the support of Peter Obi.
“The five governors traveled to the United Kingdom on Monday to strategise and take their final decision on who to support ahead of the 2023 presidential election. The person they are supporting is Peter Obi,” the source said.
The G-5 have been in the forefront for the removal of the PDP National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, as a condition to support the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar.
Recall that Governor Wike, while inaugurating the Rumuokwurusi- Elimgbu Flyover (10th flyover) in Rumuokwurusi town, Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, promised to unveil his preferred candidate for the presidency of the country in January.
Wike also, had been telling his people in Rivers State that he would announce the presidential candidate to support for the 2023 election.
The direction of the G-5 was clearer on Christmas day when the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, visited the internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps in Benue State.
The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, who received Obi, told Nigerians that the best person to rescue the nation is the LP presidential candidate.
Ortom added that the former Anambra State Governor is the best person who can solve Nigeria’s socioeconomic problems.
Voiceofnaija.ng had reported that he praised Peter Obi for visiting the camps of IDPs to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ with them, saying: “Several presidential candidates have come here, and none of them have chosen to visit those IDP camps and look at their plight to see how they are doing and give them hope that when they win, they will bring them succour, help, and hope.
“For you to have chosen to visit the IDPs on a Christmas day that you should be celebrating with your family, for me as a Christian, I say God will bless you and your aspiration. My prayer is that God will bless your aspiration to be the president of this country.
“Because I have seen capacity, faith, and hope, and I have seen someone who can bring the required equity, justice, and fairness that I have been pursuing since I became governor in 2015. If I were not in PDP, I would have been following you all over the place to canvass and vote for you.
“But because I’m in PDP, I’m telling Nigerians that this man can help deliver this country from its challenges.”
Governors Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia State), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) have refused to support their party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, citing injustice in the party.