A post-election reconciliation initiative within the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was on Thursday stalled by the refusal of certain stakeholders to show up at the venue of the planned meeting.
The meeting was held at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja at the instance of the party’s governor’s forum.
Notably, governors under the aegis of G5 were conspicuously absent at the meeting with the party’s presidential candidate in the February 25 elections, Atiku Abubakar, his running mate Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, and other party leaders.
There absence was in spite of invitations sent to the G-5 Governors – Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), by the Chairman of PDP Governors Forum, Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal.
Sources disclosed that with the initiative, governor Aminu Tambuwal planned to reunite Atiku, Okowa, PDP leadership and G5 governors following their disagreements before the general election.
Obviously towing the steps of his mentor, Rivers State governor-elect, Simi Fubara did not attend the event and Enugu State governor-elect, Peter Mbah attended the meeting while Ugwuanyi refused to show up.
Governors present at the meeting were Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), Duoye Diri (Bayelsa), Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto) Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta) and Godwin Obaseki (Edo).
The Akwa Ibom Governor, Udom Emmanuel was absent at the meeting.
Other governors-elect who were at the meeting are: Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta), Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), Dauda Lawal (Zamfara) and Agbu Kefas (Taraba).
Umo Bassey Eno, the Akwa Ibom governor-elect was represented by his deputy.
Sighted at the meeting was Acting chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) Senator Adolphus Wabara.
Present also were an array of former office holders in the party. These include former Bayelsa governor, Senator Seriake Dickson, former Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, and a former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki.
Former Governors Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo), Ayodele Fayose (Ekiti), Ibrahim Dankwabo (Gombe) were also absent at the meeting.
Several speakers took turns to speak on the downward trend of the party’s fortune.
The presidential candidate of the party and a former vice president, Atiku Abubakar lamented the decline of the PDP, from its dominant position in 1999 with 28 governors, to its present 13 in 2023.
Atiku said: “Our party has been declining as a result of these challenges. This has necessitated the urgent need for reforms to enable the PDP regain its preeminent position in Nigeria’s political space and also in Africa because we are the largest political party in Africa.”
Namadi Sambo, also a former vice President recounted the bitter divisive tendencies pulling down the Kaduna State chapter of the PDP where members were being suspended arbitrarily.
Sambo emphasized that: “all ingredients for trouble” were present in the running of the Kaduna PDP.
