November 8, 2022/CSL Research
According to a BusinessDay news report, Doyin Okupe, the Director General of the Labour Party (LP) presidential campaign council, said the party is still in talks with the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso and others with a view to forming an alliance. Earlier in the year, there were reports that Kwankwaso and the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, were in talks for a possible alliance
which never happened. However, Okupe noted that the LP is still looking to form an alliance with Kwankwaso and other parties and is in talks with them.
In another news, the internal wranglings within the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has continued unabated with the Governor Wike’s camp, now christened as G5 Governors, remaining resolute in their fight for the removal of the chairman of the Party’s National Working Committee, Iyorchia Ayu. The G5 Governors include Nyesom Wike (Rivers State), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) and Sam Ortom (Benue State). It was reported that the G5, held a meeting in Makurdi, capital of Benue stateduring the flagging off of campaigns for governorship and parliamentary elections.
It was gathered that the G5 is also trying to woo more aggrieved chieftains of the party to its camp from the six geo-political zones to make its agitations acquire a national outlook.Unfortunately, the request for the resignation of the NWC chairman has remained a hard nut to for the party’s presidential candidate to crack, hence there are insinuations that he has decided to call the bluff of the G5.
On the other hand, the All-Progressive Congress (APC) is set to flag off its campaign after a long wait for the party’s presidential flag bearer, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was away from the country for over two weeks. His absence from the country kept him from attending the peace pact signing ceremony meant for the presidential candidates of the various parties.
After a series of postponements, the ruling All Progressives Congress APC is now set to formally flag off its presidential campaign rally in Jos, Plateau state on November 15. The party had made several attempts to flag off its campaigns in the recent past but the internal debate regarding the composition of its Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) led to several postponements.
We believe the ongoing crises in the PDP remains a major setback to the party’s chance of winning the 2023 presidential election as it is likely that the G5 may decide to support another party’s candidate if their requests are not met before the election.
There are speculations that the G5 may back the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi whom the governor of Benue State has openly said he would support if not for party loyalty. However, existing structures still pull the odds in favour of the ruling APC candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu who, beyond leveraging his membership of the ruling party, is also a grassroot politician with deep pockets.
