The all-powerful forum of Governors in the two main political parties – the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been torn apart over Presidential interest ahead of the 2023 elections.
The APC’s Progressive Governors Forum and PDP Governors Forum, being the most formidable political blocs in the two parties, had planned to pick from among them the Presidential and Vice Presidential flag bearers for the 2023 election.
Since last year 2021, they began strategizing to ensure this happens as they will met and consulted to ensure that President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor in 2023 must be a serving Governor.
But Global UpFront Newspapers (GUN) is gathering that this aspiration might be a tall one as the forum in the two parties lack the needed cohesion to achieve it.
They are vertically and horizontally divided along various interests far bigger and historical than just being Governors.
In the ruling APC, the 22 Governors are filing behind different candidates outside them like former Lagos Governor Ahmed Bola Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osbinjo and Rotimi Amaechi. None of them has shown interest in the three Governors who declared interest – Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State, Kayode Fayemi of Ekitit State and Yahaya Bello of Kogi State.
Instead Northern Governors are on top of each other struggling to be running mate to the top contenders.
GUN gathered that the picture is the same in the main opposition PDP where 13 of them have their interests on other persons outside them including the Chairman of the forum Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State who is an early bird in the race.
Governor Nyesom Wike who is visibly forcing the leadership of the party on to himself with a view to picking either the Presidential or Vice Presidential ticket, has grossly de-marketed himself by his overbearing attitude and uncontrollable utterances.
Having been unable to convince his colleagues to support his Presidential aspiration despite his huge investment, GUN learnt that Governor Wike is getting more and more frustrated and now behaving like a bull in a China shop, ready and willing to destroy the party if he fails to have his way.
But a cross section of PDP leaders who spoke to GUN were emphatic that while acknowledging Governor Wike’s investment in the party, money alone does not merit him being the flag bearer of the party.
“This is national politics. This is no Ikwere or Rivers State politics. He may have done well as Governor of Rivers State. But certainly, he has not shown himself as a Presidential material,” a national leader of the PDP said unapologetically.
“He is already everyday bullying everybody including his colleagues and leadership of his party as a State Governor. Imagine if he becomes President.”
GUN investigation shows that the Presidential candidates of APC and PDP are not likely to be among the serving Governors as they are antagonizing themselves and more so, the political weight of the other leaders of the party are stronger and more acceptable to Nigerians than theirs.
