Senator George Akume and Dr Samuel Ortom in a warm embrace
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Moves to have the G-5 governors of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party headed by the former governor of Rivers State, Barr Nyesom Wike defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress is in top gear, even as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume has reached out to the former governor of Benue State, Dr. Samuel Ortom.
The five aggrieved PDP governors worked against the presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 general election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Akume’s meeting with Ortom was aimed at wooing him to the APC. Ortom and Akume have been a long time political foes.
The G-5 is made up of Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and former governors Nyesom Wike, Okezie Ikpeazu, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and Samuel Ortom of Rivers, Abia, Enugu and Benue states respectively.
Their bone of contention was the continued stay of Dr. Iyorchia Ayu as the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party which they insisted that he ought to have resigned from office following Atiku Abubakar’s emergence as the presidential flagbearer of the party from the north.
Some of the G-5 governors in venting their anger surreptitiously worked for the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, while some openly campaigned for him against the PDP’s Atiku.
The APC is strategically working to weaken the opposition ahead of 2027, given that the opposition would have given it a dogged fight, if not for crisis that rocked the party after PDP’s presidential primary election that produced Atiku Abubakar.
This is even as Wike, the leader of the group, has visited Tinubu at the Presidential Villa multiple times after the May 29 inauguration, a development that led PDP chieftains to question his continued membership of the PDP.
In an interview with Sunday PUNCH, a former Principal Special Assistant to Ortom, Raymond Magen, said, “Deep talks” were ongoing between the APC and the five opposition leaders which could lead to their defection in the months ahead.
Magen added, “They are talking on a consistent basis with the APC. These are not mere talks but deep-seated conversations between the PDP leaders and the ruling party. They may be joining the APC because there are no indications that they are still interested in what is going on in their party.”
