In spite of the recent flurry of defections inside the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has stated that he will not be leaving the party.
This is according to Vanguard’s reporting that Makinde made the statement following a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja today.
Makinde stated he feels at ease with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) when asked if he is thinking about joining the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), similar to his former PDP colleagues.
“I feel at home in the PDP,” he declared.
In Makinde’s view, all political parties in Nigeria must work together for the common good if the country’s problems are to be solved.
When faced with national challenges, our country may require a bipartisan approach so that neither the APC nor the PDP can stand on their own. Instead, we must consider what is best for our country and work together. He emphasized the importance of having everyone on board once they reach that intersection.
After Caleb Mutfwang, governor of Plateau State, who had just defected from the PDP to the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), the governor of Oyo came at the Aso Villa not long after.
After being greeted separately, the two governors made their way to the president’s office.
In the run-up to the 2023 general election, Makinde was a prominent figure among the five PDP governors—collectively referred to as the G5—who were against former vice president Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential nominee.
According to the G5 governors, the PDP’s presentation of a northern candidate following the eight-year presidency of Muhammadu Buhari—also from the North—constituted a violation of their informal zoning arrangement.
For the sake of equity and national unity, the group said, leadership should shift to the South.
Ultimately, Tinubu was victorious in the 2023 presidential election because to Makinde and the other G5 members’ overt backing for him over the PDP nominee. In addition to Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, former Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, and former Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi were also members of the G5.
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