Atiku’s team campaigns for Gov. Makinde in Oyo, says rift settled

The team of Atiku Abubakar campaigned for Governor Seyi Makinde at the Mapo Hall venue of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign rally in Ibadan, the State capital, on Thursday.

Oyo State governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde did not show up but major PDP stakeholders in the State attended the rally.

The atmosphere at the Ibadan rally was also indicative of the fact that Atiku and Makinde may have settled their rift behind the scene with key supporters of the party’s presidential candidate asking party members and supporters in the State to vote for Governor Makinde for a second term in office.

Those who spoke at the rally include Senator Dino Melaye; director-general of the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Council and Sokoto State governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, and wife of the presidential candidate, Hajia Amina Titi Atiku Abubakar, among others.

They all said the political differences between Atiku and Makinde have been resolved.

They called on all party members and supporters to re-elect Makinde as Oyo State governor in the March 11, 2023 elections.

Makinde was one of the aggrieved five governors of the PDP otherwise called G-5 or Integrity Group, who are at loggerheads with the party’s national leadership over the continued stay of Dr. Iyorchia Ayu as the national chairman of the PDP since the emergence of Atiku as the presidential candidate.

The G-5 has repeatedly called for Ayu’s removal for a Southerner to take over the affairs of the PDP, as a pre-condition for supporting Atiku’s presidential bid.

But from the atmosphere at the Ibadan rally, Makinde and Atiku may have reached a truce.