Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has said that the group of five governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who are demanding the resignation of the party’s National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu have not agreed to support the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
It was reported that the group (formerly known as G-5, now Integrity Group) had a meeting with Tinubu in London earlier in the week and gave their support to him in next February’s presidential election. The group is led by Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and also has Oyo State Governor Seyi, Makinde, his Abia State counterpart Okezie Ikpeazu and that of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
Special Assistant to the President of New Media, Bashir Ahmad posted on his Twitter account a statement that suggested that the Integrity Group made a good offer to Tinubu.
“The offer put forward by the five governors was fan-tastically positive. That will definitely help us to seal our imminent victory in 2023. Let’s do it together”, he wrote.
However, any suggestion of an agreement has now been denied by the group, which maintained that there is no such thing, disclosing that they will not be afraid to tell Nigerians whatever they may be involved in.
But in phone chat with Nigerian Tribune from London, Ortom dismissed the claim of an agreement to support Tinubu.
He said that with their standing and experience, if they came to any decision, they would be the ones to inform Nigerians.
On the alleged pact with Tinubu, Ortom declared: “It’s not true. There is nothing like that. As experienced as we are, if we are doing anything, we will let the public know”.
The governors are expected to arrive Port Harcourt, the Rivers State, on Friday and have an engagement with the media.
The governors also dared their party to expel them should they decide to choose another candidate to support in 2023 other than Atiku.
