A bloc within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, is in a quandary with regards to its continued stay within the party, Saturday Telegraph has learnt. The Makinde group had been a solid part of the Alhaji Tanimu Turaki-led faction of the PDP until recently, when the Turaki faction held its expanded Board of Trustees meeting, during which the remaining two governors left in the party, Makinde and his Bauchi State counterpart, Senator Bala Mohammed, expressed different views on the party’s reconciliatory moves.
According to sources who were part of the meeting, the two governors expressed different views regarding whether the faction should reconcile with Nyesom Wike’s faction or not. While Makinde expressed his desire for the Turaki faction to continue with the legal battle and go the whole hog, Mohammed, on the other hand, counselled that in the spirit of a new beginning, it would be better to reconcile with the other faction and reshape the PDP.
“It was a heated debate during the meeting as senior members of the party were stunned beyond words when the two governors decided to confront one another. The exchange was so hot, “the source said. Those in the know stated that the differences of opinion were actually necessitated by the presidential ambitions of the two gladiators, who, many are of the opinion, have never hidden their respective desires to contest the plum office.
According to those in the know, Makinde is eyeing the office next year, his Bauchi State counterpart is angling for the office come 2031 when President Tinubu would have spent his 8 years of the Constitutionally allowed two-term of office. “It is clear why the two of them are at each other’s jugular.
Governor Makinde is seeking to take the shot next year, while Governor Bala is hoping that all the schism within the PDP would have subsided by 2031 and power would have reverted to the North in 2031,” a source within the party told Saturday Telegraph during the week.
Our correspondent gathered that since the Board of Trustees meeting, as well as the ruling that a judgment of the Court of Appeal has put awedge in the moves being made by Turaki led faction to assert itself, a lot of underground moves are being made to reconcile it (the Turaki faction) with the one led by the Minister of the FCT, Chief Nyesom Wike.
Those in the know, however, stated that the reconciliatory moves are not going down well with the Makinde-led caucus, who are reportedly shopping for a new platform to ventilate their aspiration to contest the Presidency.
“A lot of things have since happened within the party with many of the leaders coming to terms with the reality to toe the line of caution and accept the option of going along with Governor Mohammed and by extension, the FCT minister,” the source said.
The source added that this has, however, prompted the Oyo State governor and his followers to mull the option of leaving the party for another one ahead of the scheduled poll. When contacted on the phone to comment on the issue, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Makinde, Dr. Sulaiman Olanrewaju, denied the speculation, saying, “It’s not true.”
