Makinde, Mutfwang Meet Tinubu In Abuja.

 

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State on Wednesday visited the Presidential Villa in Abuja to hold a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Makinde arrived at the State House shortly after the Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang, who recently left the Peoples Democratic Party for the ruling All Progressives Congress, had gone in and moved straight to the President’s office.

Details of the discussions between President Tinubu and the Oyo State governor were not made public as at the time this report was filed.

Makinde is one of the former five PDP governors, known as the G-5, who rejected the choice of Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential candidate before the 2023 general election.

The group insisted that the presidency should return to the South after the eight years of former President Muhammadu Buhari from the North, in line with the party’s zoning plan.

Other members of the group were Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State.

They later worked against the PDP candidate and backed Tinubu during the 2023 presidential poll.

Since then, tension has grown between Makinde and Wike, who is now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

In a recent interview, Makinde explained that their disagreement started after Wike told President Tinubu during a meeting that he would keep the PDP in line for the President ahead of the 2027 election.

Makinde said the remark was made without consulting other party leaders.

He explained that while Wike was free to support Tinubu’s second term bid, other members of the party also had the right to protect the PDP and stop any plan that could weaken the country’s multi-party system.

According to him, President Tinubu did not ask Wike to make such a promise and was not part of the idea.

Makinde added that efforts to get Wike to withdraw the statement failed, which made him step away from the plan.

The Oyo governor said he would take his own decision on who to support in 2027 and would not be forced into backing any candidate.