Osun guber: Wike, Makinde, Ortom absent as Atiku leads PDP campaign for Adeleke

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Thursday, held a rally in Osun ahead of the governorship election in the state.

The governorship election is scheduled to hold on July 16.

The campaign was held in Osogbo, the capital of Osun, and the PDP asked residents to vote for Ademola Adeleke, the party’s governorship candidate.

The rally was led by Atiku Abubakar, PDP presidential candidate, and Iyorchia Ayu, the party’s national chairman.

Others who were present at the rally included Bukola Saraki, former senate president, and four governors — Douye Diri of Bayelsa, Godwin Obaseki of Edo, Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto, and Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta.

However, Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, and his counterparts such as Samuel Ortom of Benue, Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu, and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, were absent from the rally.

Wike, Ortom, Makinde, Ugwuanyi, and Ikpeazu were named as vice-chairmen of the Osun PDP campaign council and it is not immediately clear why they were absent from the rally.

However, the development may not be unrelated to the recent happenings in the party.

The opposition party has been embroiled in rancour since Abubakar named Okowa as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election.

Some party stakeholders, including Ortom, had expressed concerns over Atiku’s decision to overlook Wike, who was recommended for the position by the party’s national working committee (NWC).

Wike placed second in the party’s presidential primary which took place in May.

However, speaking earlier on Thursday, Abubakar had said concerns about division within the party is “social media drama”, adding that he is open to discussions with Wike.