The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) post-election reconciliation plan failed to take off yesterday.
Aggrieved governors, under the aegis of G5, shunned a scheduled parley with the party’s presidential candidate in the February 25 elections, Atiku Abubakar, his running mate Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, and other party leaders.
During the meeting at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, Atiku emphasised the need to reposition the main opposition party.
Although G-5 Governors – Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), were invited to the interactive session by Chairman of PDP Governors Forum, Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal, they declined.
Tambuwal had planned to bring Atiku, Okowa, PDP leadership and G5 governors together under the same roof, following their parting of ways before the general election.
A statement by the Director-General of the PDP Governors Forum, CID Maduabum, stated that the event was meant to serve as an opportunity for PDP leaders, stakeholders and members to come together for the first time after the election.
It was gathered that the organisers had planned to explore the possibility of initiating discussions that could birth a fresh reconciliation process.
Although, Enugu State governor-elect, Peter Mbah attended the meeting, Ugwuanyi stayed away.
Rivers State governor-elect, Simi Fubara did not attend the event, apparently because Governor Wike also did not show up.
Led by Wike, the G-5 had been at loggerheads with Atiku and the party leadership owing to disagreements over presidential nominations and failure by the party to zone the ticket to the South.
Atiku lamented the decline of the PDP, from its dominant position in 1999 with 28 governors, to its present 13 in 2023.
