Makinde finally asks Oyo residents to vote for Atiku

Mr Makinde’s call deviates from his previous stance not to support the election of the Peoples

Democratic Party’s presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar. The governor, alongside four other

governors in the PDP (popularly known as the G-5) have for months railed against Mr Abubakar

and the party leadership over differences in the composition of the Party’s presidential ticket

and the headship of the PDP, which is being held by the northerners.

The Oyo State Governor tasks residents to vote for Atiku

Mr Makinde, also seeking a second term in office, has now apparently backtracked after initially

refusing to support Mr Abubakar following his emergence as a candidate from the northern

the region at the Party’s primary held in May.

In the newsletter obtained by Peoples Gazette on Thursday, the Oyo governor asked his

supporters to encourage undecided voters to strictly choose his Party, the PDP, on the ballot.

“So, if you still have undecided voters on your list, this is the time to call them up and help

them decide to vote for the PDP from top to bottom in Oyo state.

Vote For A New Nigeria

“By the next time I write you, we will have a new Federal Republic of Nigeria President,

barring any electoral reruns. Therefore, vote wisely this Saturday, so we do not have a repeat

of the pains and suffering we have experienced in the last eight years,” the newsletter read in part.

Mr Makinde has been battling to regain the support of some Oyo electorates, incredibly Party

faithful who had been against his initial refusal to support the PDP presidential candidate.

The Oyo governor, Nyesom Wike of Rivers state, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu, Samuel Ortom

of Benue, and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia state had been demanding the resignation of the PDP’s

national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, as a pre-condition to support Mr Abubakar’s presidential

ambition.

Makinde requests Oyo residents to vote for Atiku.

On September 20, 2022, the aggrieved governors, who later named themselves the ‘Integrity

group’ met in Port Harcourt, Rivers capital, and announced their withdrawal from the

presidential campaign council of Mr Abubakar.

Nicknamed ‘G5’, the governors were absent from the inauguration of Mr Abubakar’s campaign

council on September 28. The governors had argued that a northerner cannot be the PDP’s

presidential flag bearer, and the national chairman also hails from the same region.

They claimed that Mr Ayu had, even before the primary, promised to resign should a

Northerners from his region emerge as the presidential candidate of the PDP.