According to Okowa, the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar will soon meet with the G-5 Governors to put an end to the contending issues.
The Delta State Governor and the vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ifeanyi Okowa has debunked claims that the party had resolved to dump the G-5 Integrity Group led by Governor Nyesom Wike and forge ahead in the 2023 presidential election.
According to Okowa, the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar will soon meet with the G-5 Governors to put an end to the contending issues.
Okowa, who made this known on Wednesday evening in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, after a meeting of the South-South Governors Forum, said the PDP will not allow the G-5 Governors to leave the party and that the unresolved issues will soon be resolved.
Present at the meeting were Okowa, Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, and the host governor, Senator Douye Diri,
Okowa said, “The claim that the party will dump the G-5 Governors is definitely not true. They are part of our family and I believe there are issues and these issues are being attended to. Very soon the presidential candidate will meet the governors. They are part of the family and we are not going to allow them go. Obviously, there are many things being put in place to reconcile all sides and move together as one.”
However, the Rivers State Governor, Wike, who is the leader of the G-5 Governors, was conspicuously absent.
Earlier, Governor Obaseki told journalists that the visit of the governors was to empathise with their Bayelsa State counterpart, Diri, on the recent flood disaster in the state.
Obaseki also said that the meeting was to find out from the vice-presidential candidate of the party, Okowa about the ongoing presidential campaigns and restate their total support for him and Atiku.
He said, “We are here to assure them that we are with them and to give them all the supports needed which may also include reaching out to our other brothers in the zone in order to resolve any differences that we have so as to move into the next year election as one strong united zone and party.”
In his speech, Diri commended the South-South Governors for displaying a high sense of unity and togetherness during crises such as the recent flood disaster that ravaged the state.
On the PDP issue, Diri said the South-South Governors are united despite the noticeable dispute. He, however, assured the public that the dispute will be resolved soon.
He said, “We are one. In a family, there are always disputes. But the dispute will not separate us. We will resolve those disputes and continue to put on as one. South-South is a PDP region and South-South is a place no other party can contend. I assure you that that the PDP will triumph at all levels in the next elections.”