Seyi Makinde, the governor of Oyo State, Nyesom Wike, the governor of River State, and three other disgruntled governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) met with other party elders and leaders on Sunday in Lagos to discuss the current state of the party and the upcoming elections. This meeting was organised under the auspices of G5.
Notably, the G5 is pushing for someone from the south to succeed Sen. Iyorcha Ayu as PDP national chairman, claiming that the North cannot be producing both the party's presidential candidate and national chairman.
In his opening remarks, Governor Makinde cited this as the impetus for the Lagos meeting before moving into an in-camera session with other leaders and elders of PDP, such as the host, former Deputy National Chairman of the party Olabode George, and other guests, including former governors and senators.
The governor of Oyo State has stated that the meeting was convened to address the major issues affecting the party and that the media would be updated on the conclusion after the deliberation has concluded. The attendees are now known as Integrity Group, but the G5 remains the face of the group.
“The G5 is all about Integrity Group, you can see us as serving governors, as the face of the struggle, but the leaders and elders of the party that you see here are the people behind those faces, and we are here this morning in the South-West to review the situation within the party, to review where we are, and to also look at what is going to happen with the coming elections.
“And at the end of our deliberation, you would be briefed on where we stand on those burning issues and on behalf of all our leaders and elders within PDP in South-West, I want to welcome all the members of Integrity Group to a fruitful deliberation,” he said.
Those in attendance include Seyi Makinde, Okeje Ikpeazu, Nyesome Wike, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Daniel Orbih, Taofeek Arapaja, Olabode George, Malam Adoke, Sandy O. Onor, Nasir Suleiman, N. Ukeje, M. Maifata Muhammed, Mao Ohabuwwa. among others.