By Akinwale Kasali
The aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Governors, popular as G-5 have been described as a bunch of confused leaders, incapable of determining who wins next month’s Presidential election.
Yekini Nabena, a former All Progressives Congress, APC, Deputy National Publicity Secretary said that the Governors are confused and don’t know what they want and the direction they ought to follow as the 2023 General Elections draws closer.
Nabena added that the leadership of the PDP should desist forthwith from interfacing with the aggrieved Governors.
Speaking at a brief interactive session on Friday in Abuja, the former APC spokesman noted that apart from Wike, the other four Governors lack the electoral mileage to determine the direction of the election.
The aggrieved PDP Governors include Nyesom Wike, Samuel Ortom, Seyi Makinde, Okezie Ikpeazu and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Rivers, Benue, Oyo, Abia and Enugu states respectively.
Nabena furthermore stressed that the electoral reforms introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, will make it impossible for any Governor to manipulate election outcomes in favour of any candidate.
“The G-5 governors are confused and handicapped whether as PDP men or as supporters of any opposition party.
“We have been hearing all manner of things. Today they are with Asiwaju (Bola Tinubu), tomorrow they are with Peter Obi and the next day, they may work for Atiku Abubakar. Which one do we believe?
“If they support our party and we win in the February presidential election, our members won’t see the G5 governors as allies to be trusted. Again if they change their minds and work for Atiku, and (God forbid) PDP wins after all they have told Nigerians; they will still be treated like pariahs. The same treatment will befall them in Labour Party. Therefore, give or take, these Governors are losers in waiting.
He urged Nigerians to ignore the “noise-making Governors ”, stressing that “The new electoral law has reduced dramatically, the influence of sitting governors to do magic during election unless the electoral umpire decides to handover the process to them. The less-performing governors are the worst for it because the electorate won’t listen to them on election day.
“Again, the new innovations as introduced by INEC, if religiously followed, is another challenge for those who think they can sway the votes. The Bimodal Verification Accreditation System is not anybody’s mate. People will decide and not governors any longer.
“I will advise those who are still waiting on the G5 governors to shift their attention to the real voters because these governors won’t be at the polling unit on election day,” Nabena added.
