PDP Crisis: “Atiku riding on our success to win in Oyo”, Makinde replies Oyelese; says “unjust” party leadership_ were about protecting national interests

Former Minister of Power and Steel Wole Oyelese took a swipe at the Oyo State governor Seyi Makinde saying the G5 member needs Atiku to win.

He made the remark on what he described as an act of treachery for abstaining from electioneering for Atiku, Oyelese argued that Makinde needs Atiku to win.

The Oyo governor who appeared as a guest a private national television on Friday, January 27th, 2023 retorted that his administration’s achievements are being leveraged by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, to clinch the state in the next month’s election.

“Elder Oyelese is older than me and I will not disrespect him. But I think he basically stood logic on its head. It is the other way round,” he said.

“If our candidate will need to win in Oyo State, I will have to campaign for him because PDP in Oyo State is riding on the achievements that we’ve been able to make these three plus years.

“So, if he’s looking for a ministerial position – I don’t think anyone will give him a ministerial position anyway because the last time he had the opportunity, he didn’t do well at all.”

Makinde alluded to Oyelese’s alleged unpopularity, saying in the latter’s hometown of Erunmu, the indigenes “wouldn’t even touch him with a long pole.”

He went on to urge the former minister to be objective, saying, “So, you have all of these so-called expired politicians and then they go out there and say, ‘We’ve done this. We can do this.’

“I respect the opponents; I respect some of the challenges that we have to face for this election. But we are realists. We are driven by data and logic. We demonstrated it before.”

Makinde said beyond personal ambitions, the demands of the G5 or Integrity Group – five aggrieved PDP governors who are rallying against the “unjust” party leadership – were about protecting national interests.

“If I will tell you precisely what is going on, the unity of this country is at stake. When they said, ‘Rotate. Let there be inclusivity. Get zone party positions – rotate it,’ it’s because we know that our federalism has not taken serious root.

“So, to compensate for some of the things that we don’t have constitutionally right now, we said, ‘Rotate the positions, do zoning.’ Now, we’ve disregarded that,” he said.

According to Makinde, party members cannot keep picking and choosing what parts of the constitution they are going to obey and disregard.

“The National Chairman himself was the one that made that comment that peradventure somebody from the northern part of the country emerges as the presidential candidate, he will resign.

“But now you are saying the constitution must be followed. This is the constitution we’ve flagrantly disregarded in the first instance.”

The governor called to question the recent dissolution of the PDP’s State Working Committee in Ekiti State.

“They said almost six months ago that ‘this is too close to an election to start asking the national chairman to resign.’

“But less than how many days ago, they dissolved the entire exco in Ekiti State. So, that dissolution is not too close to an election?” he asked.