Four governors of the Peoples Democratic Government, PDP, met Wednesday in Baye;sa with a pledge to back fully the ticket of Atiku Abubakar and Ifeanyi Okowa.
The three visiting governors were Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa, Delta; Udom Emmanuel, Akwa Ibom and Godwin Obaseki of Edo State. They were hosted by Governor Douye Diri.
Dr. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa @IAOkowa tweeted: “Make no mistake, the @OfficialPDPNig is one family. This is why I am optimistic that in the near future, we will reconcile and consolidate all our key leaders and stakeholders ahead of the 2023 General Election. #PowerToThePeople”
In another tweet, host governor Douye Diri tweeted: “Today, I hosted my colleagues, Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa, PDP Vice Presidential Candidate, Udom Emmanuel, Akwa Ibom & Godwin Obaseki of Edo State. We have restated our unwavering support to our Presidential Candidate, H.E Atiku Abubakar in the 2023 elections. South-South is fully PDP.”
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, was absent at the meeting. Wike leads the G5 group of aggrieved PDP governors over the emergence of northerners as the PDP presidential candidate and the party’s national chairman (Iyorchia Ayu). They have repeatedly demanded the removal of Ayu for a southern replacement.
Addressing journalists after the meeting, Obaseki said the meeting was to support Atiku and Okowa ahead of the 2023 general elections.
“We have a PDP South-South Governors Forum and our vice presidential candidate, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa is our Chairman and we decided to host a meeting of the Forum in Bayelsa this evening to have an opportunity to come and visit our brother who has gone through so much in the flooding crisis we have here.
“It also afforded us an opportunity to discuss matters of mutual interest to us PDP governors ahead of the next presidential and national elections.
“We also want to use the opportunity to come and show support and also find out from our brother, the vice presidential candidate, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa on the goings on at the national level and to reiterate our total support for the candidacy of President Atiku Abubakar and to assure them that we are here.”
