Atiku replaces Makinde with Adeleke as his southwest campaign coordinator as talks with G5 collapse

FORMER vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar gas replaced Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State on his presidential campaign council with Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State as attempts to reach a deal with the G5 governors appeared to have collapsed irretrievably.

In late June, the PDP elected Alhaji Abubakar as its flagbearer for next year's presidential election at its annual convention. Governor Nyeson Wike of Rivers State was a candidate in that election but he was beaten into second place and to make matters worse for him, he was not then picked as the party's running mate.

With Alhaji Abubakar opting to pick Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as his running mate, Governor Wike and his supporters, made up primarily of four other governors, have  been on the war path. Governors Wike, Seyi Makinde  (Oyo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) now make up what is now known as the G5 Group of Governors and have boycotted Atiku's campaign so far.

Several meetings have been held to reach an accommodation but it appears that this process has now finally reached the end. With a truce now seen as impossible, Alhaji Abubakar has decided to look beyond the aggrieved governors and their allies, so has appointed Governor Adeleke as the coordinator of his Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) in the southwest.

A crucial meeting in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, between the two sides, which their representatives described as final, broke down following irreconcilable differences. A proposal by Adamawa State's Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, who represented Alhaji Abubakar, that the yearnings of the G-5, also known as the Integrity Group, will be taken care of after the election, was rejected by the governors.

Governor Fintiri had pleaded with his colleagues to make a further sacrifice by focusing more on the election instead of insisting on their conditions for a truce. However, the G5 governors and other allies, who had insisted that the national chairman, Senator Iyiocha Ayu, should resign, stood their ground, saying that their core demand was non-negotiable.

Ahead of the presidential primary in Abuja, Senator Ayu had promised to step down if a northerner was picked as flagbearer. However, Senator Ayu, who reneged on his promise, was backed by Alhaji Abubakar, who explained that the provisions of the party constitution on the choice and removal of the chairman should be followed.

One party source said that Governor Wike, who spoke on behalf of G-5 governors, said they would neither participate in the PDP presidential campaigns nor lend any support for Atiku in their respective states ahead of the poll. According to the source, pleas by Governor Fintiri and other party leaders to the aggrieved governors to sheath their swords fell on deaf ears.