A former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole says the abstention of five governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) known as G5 is good for his party’s performance in the 2023 presidential election.
Oshiomhole, a former Edo State governor, made this known on Friday during a media chat after he met President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja.
The ex-APC chairman took a swipe at PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, saying leadership is about character and keeping agreements.
“Leaders must have character. If you are not yet president and you are not obeying agreement and Nigerians are talking of national unity, and you disobeyed the provisions of your party constitution which talks about rotation in order to service that unity,” he said.
According to him, the APC has 23 governors to work for the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu at next February’s poll while Atiku has just seven governors – with the exclusion of the G5.
Oshiomhole said, “The other candidate is battling with (a crisis). Five governors have backed out and you find out how many governors they have. We have 23, now you add 23 with five, I am not saying the five are with us but you add 23 with five, that is 28. You subtract 28 from 36, it means only seven governors because APGA is not there.
“So, while he has seven governors working for him, we have 23 working for us and we have five who are neutral.
“When you are voting, you vote for, against or you abstain. Abstention is as good as voting against. So, however you look at it, our campaign is going smoothly and the message is very clear.”
The former Edo governor had on Wednesday commissioned the Rumuepirikom Flyover in the Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State at the invitation of Governor Nyesom Wike, one of the G5 members.
He had also described Wike as his “Man of the Year” because of his insistence on justice within the main opposition party.
For months, Wike and four other PDP governors have demanded the resignation of Iyorchia Ayu, saying northerners should not be the PDP national chairman and presidential candidate.
Other members of the G5 are Governors Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu).
However, Ayu, a Benue indigene, has insisted that he won’t step down till the end of his four-year tenure, even as the G5 made his resignation a precondition to support Adamawa-born Atiku’s 2023 presidential ambition.
While Wike and his allies have not been seen to campaign for Atiku, it is not clear whether they will support Tinubu or Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in the contest for Aso Rock’s top job which has been described by analysts and keen observers as a three-horse race.
Meanwhile, Wike on Thursday pledged to provide logistics support for Obi’s campaign in Rivers, saying the LP candidate has all the characteristics to be Nigeria’s next President.