Jonathan denies working with five aggrieved governors to destabilize PDP

Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday described as misleading a claim that he was working with the five aggrieved governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to destabilize the party ahead of the 2023 elections.

The five governors — Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) — have spearheaded the push for the resignation of the PDP national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, to pave the way for the emergence of a southerner as the party’s helmsman.

The quintet have since distanced themselves from the PDP campaign programmes over the retention of the former Senate President as the party’s national chairman.

The former president, who reacted to the claim in a statement issued by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, urged the party to resolve its internal crisis and unite its members ahead of next year’s elections.

The statement read: “We believe that such duplicitous statements could not have emanated from the camps of those who truly wish the party well. It simply shows that the so-called ‘sources’ of the story are not disposed to the peace and unity they pretend to be seeking in the PDP.

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“How could anybody turn around in 2022 to accuse Jonathan of bearing a grudge against the PDP when the former president had campaigned vigorously for the party and its presidential candidate during the 2019 elections?

“Those who insinuate that Dr. Jonathan is not happy with the PDP’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, because of whatever roles he played ahead of the 2015 elections forget that the former president actively campaigned for Atiku in 2019, attending the flag-off of his campaigns in Sokoto and subsequently participating in the campaigns in some states like Rivers and Bayelsa.

“The fact that Dr. Jonathan stood out as an exemplary politician who, throughout his political career, abhorred treachery and mean-mindedness, and played politics without bitterness, needs no gainsay. Unlike many of his detractors, the former president has, out of office, progressed to a higher level of statesmanship, faithfully applying himself to causes that promote peace, love, unity, and progress, across the entire West African sub-region.

“It is Dr. Jonathan’s wish that the PDP is able to resolve its internal crisis, unite all members, and have a good showing in the forthcoming 2023 elections. We wish to however point out that it will be difficult to achieve this aspiration if some forces in the party continue to engage in mudslinging, disinformation, and manifest tendencies that negate the values that are dear to loyal party members.”

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