G-5 governors and the tight rope ahead, By Zainab Suleiman Okino

Alhamdulilah it’s January, a month that will reveal many things. Governor Nyesom Wike, the arrow of the G-5 rebel governors of the PDP, also known as the Integrity Group, will finally unveil the presidential candidate. February and March will finally put the drama, theatrics, hose trading, name calling and negative vibes of the 2023 election campaign behind us, so that we can focus on governance, good governance, which Nigerians desperately need to bring us back from the road to perdition has been in the last few months. Hopefully.

But in the meantime, the five governors – Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu state, Seyi Makinde of Oyo state, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia state led by Governor Wike of Rivers state are almost at the end of the suspense game. . As soon as the junkets, even going to the moon will become immaterial, because all of them, except Governor Makinde, who may or may not return – will be the former, irrelevant and free of funds, because like it or not, they all now operate at the expense of the state, which pay bills including estacode. Others who want to become senators, even if they win, will be some fraction of 109.

But even to that extent, an angry governor cannot sit on the fence forever. Neutrality is not optional, although some people have declared their support for Peter Obi, so it is impossible to say which party. They say, if you don’t believe in anything, you can fall for anything. They claim to be fighting for justice, fairness and justice, but what happens in events that have no way out and still have to be somewhere? Recall that the G-governor emerged after Wike lost to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the PDP presidential primaries and also the vice presidential slot to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state. They started demanding the removal/resignation of the party chairman, Iyorchia Ayu because he is from the North, the same zone as Atiku against the zoning arrangements of the party lords.

In that type of game (Nigerian politics), you can enter or submit and loyalty is only for one political party. The day of reckoning is almost here. The governors initially had the sympathy of many Nigerians, but now they seem to have lost the emotional battle by withdrawing. Unfortunately, the Nigerian situation makes out-of-office a lonely road to travel – rejected, dejected and irrelevant, because of our notion of ‘winner-take-all’. So the party that is “home” to the five governors?

Unfortunately for the governor, the presidential and National Assembly elections are held on the same day (February 25) which is more complicated. How do you tell voters who are mostly illiterate, on election day to vote for different parties, using ballot papers that only have the party’s initials and logo. Is it awkward to tell voters to “vote party A for president and party B for senator?”

The G-5 governors are playing with fire that can also burn. His antics remind us of what happened in the 2015 presidential election in most countries. In Kogi state, when the PDP realized that the overwhelming tsunami of APC in the present President Muhahammadu Buhari as the presidential flag bearer could consume him, he (PDP candidates especially for the Senate and the House of Representatives) devised a way of putting pictures and Buhari on posters, encouraging the Voters to vote for APC for the presidency and PDP for the Senate and APC Reps quickly capitilised in this empty and illogical arrangement, telling voters to vote for “papa and pikin”, a reference to APC for both the president and the National Assembly. It worked well, as the PDP presidential candidate, Dr Goodluck Jonathan and the party’s National Assembly candidate were defeated.

While we wait for five governors to tell voters how to tell the difference between “paps and seniles”, the battle has now moved to the front door. How the war is fought and the decisions it makes will also determine its own survival and political relevance, moving forward.

Meanwhile, political annihilation for Wike is almost here, But the game goes and who wins. There is a saying that the funeral of a mother’s mother is more attractive to mourners than the death of a mother. The old saying to emphasize the closeness of the endgame for Wike is important. As governor, he has invited everyone from the political circles to the business community to technocrats and royalty for one commissioning or the other.

Each of these events, in many cases, was under Wike’s verbal umbrage against his opponents. It is good enough, that he has done a lot of infrastructure that requires unveiling and exposure, but he always hides the focus of the VIP invitation. Anyway, in the next few months, Wike will not be the governor, he has no job to do, so there is no one to invite political leaders. If he invites, no one will respect him, and all junkets and visits will be private affairs.

Herein lies Wike’s dilemma, whether as a PDP man or as an opposition supporter. If APC conducts the February presidential election day, they will not see Wike as a reliable ally. If PDP wins after all the ‘injuries’ done to the party, Wike will be treated like a pariah. Therefore, give or take Wike will be a loss; he was walking on a tight rope and was already on the edge of the tethers. Lucky that in the state of Rivers, the APC in the court-entered disarray and the SDP do not match; otherwise, even the hand-picked successor for the governorship election would be in trouble, and not sure if the principal (Wike) is with him in PDP or not.

Governor Ortom is in the twilight of many wars that do not include good governance and infrastructure. Benue is a poor country as it is today. They are fighting Fulani herdsmen to a standstill. The sentiments he created around the Fulani dominance narrative earned him a second term, after abandoning the APC he once rode. And now, joining others to fight “injustice” is now a baby project. It remains to be seen whether he can win the hearts of the people in his senatorial ambitions in the PDP. Meanwhile, APC has a strong candidate in Rev. Hyacinth Alia. Can Ortom weather storm rama rama? Will the “injustice” sentiment card play again for Ortom?

There are also larger ramifications of the possible ouster of the five governors. Except to show the supremacy of the party, the expulsion will not add much damage that awaits the five governors in their own opinion. There is a limit to everything; a time to be angry, a time to speak and a time to act. Whatever the reason, grouse and grievance and anyone interested, five G-governor at the end of the mind, when the applause has subsided and the curtain has been pulled to close. Going forward, whatever it does at a certain stage, it can only have distraction value. I doubt that is the kind of legacy Wike and co. will want to be remembered.

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Zainab Suleiman Okino is chairman of the Blueprint Newspaper Editorial Board and a syndicated columnist. He can be contacted through zainabokino@gmail.com.