The crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) further manifested in the Oyo State chapter, yesterday, when the party’s stakeholders in South-West embarked on freedom march to drum support for former Vice President and presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar but was tactically boycotted by Governor Seyi Makinde and all the party’s candidates in the state.
The Guardian gathered that when the rally was ongoing, Makinde was in a meeting with all the party’s candidates where he was said to have promised to work for the Senatorial, House of Representatives, House of Assembly and the governorship candidates but kept silent on working for Atiku.
It is not certain if loyalists of Atiku, such as former Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Azeem Gbolarunmi; former Minister of Power and Steel, Wole Oyelese; former Minister of FCT, Chief Jumoke Akinjide and Femi Babalola, who organised yesterday’s rally, will participate in Makinde’s flag-off campaign scheduled for Mapo Hall today.
As at the time of filling this report, all the G-5 governors were in Ibadan in preparation for the governor’s mega rally.
But in spite of Makinde and other candidates’ absence from yesterday’s rally, Akinjide admonished members of the party not to accept any other presidential candidate except Atiku.
She advised the people of Oyo State not to be deceived neither by a group nor the All Progressives Congress (APC) but should elect PDP presidential candidate for the expansion of economy and to enjoy basic amenities of life.
Akinjide further enjoined members of Oyo PDP not to give room for discord among themselves but ensure unity to prevail in the party.
In his remarks, the representative of Atiku/Okowa presidential campaign for South, Tunji Adeniji, promised that if Atiku is elected, the former vice president would restructure Nigeria and put an end to insecurity to attract more foreign investors.
Meanwhile, candidate of PDP for Oyo South Senatorial District election, Joseph Tegbe, told the media at a parley yesterday that the PDP remains the best for Nigerians to elect both at the federal and state levels because the APC has failed to deliver.
He said his decision to join the PDP and work with Makinde was out of conviction that the incumbent governor remains the best among the major gubernatorial candidates.
He also told journalists that it was a tall dream to think that the G-5 governors would endorse the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, at their mega rally today.
