‘You are the root of our problems’ – Atiku fires Makinde, Ortom for their continued alignment with Wike

The Wike-aligned governors popularly called G5 Governors

Atiku Abubakar, a former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has criticized party governors aligned with Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike.

In a statement through his aide, Demola Olarewaju, Special Assistant on Digital Media and Strategy, Atiku said these governors are the root of the ongoing problems in the party.

Olarewaju, in a post on his handle, took a dig at the governors, stating that anyone associating with Wike is a traitor to the PDP.

“Wike’s entire relevance in Nigeria’s political space is directly dependent on his ability to rock PDP’s boat and make it less formidable,” he wrote.

“Any governor associating with him is a traitor in PDP, and I’ll go further to say that governors are the root of PDP crises since 2015.

“You can trace every major crisis in PDP to the ‘zoning’ of NWC offices to individual governors ever since the party lost Aso Rock, and some of us saw it coming in 2015.

“The current tensions may or may not abate, and nationalists must be tactically flexible about party platforms.”

His reaction comes after the group of governors, popularly called the G5 group, met Nyesom Wike on Saturday, September 21 in Abuja.

This group comprises notable figures, including Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, former governors Sam Ortom (Benue), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia).

A reliable source, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Punch exclusively that the leaders met to address pressing concerns within the party.

Recall that in the lead-up to the 2023 Presidential election, the G5 group made some significant demands.

One key condition for their support of Atiku Abubakar, the party’s candidate, was the replacement of then-PDP National Chairman Iyorchia Ayu with a Southern representative.