Former Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, weekend, goofed when he said the five aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, members, otherwise known as G-5, would help President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to win the presidency again in the 2027 general elections. Ortom also went further to tell a lie that the G-5 governors supported Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election. If I may ask, what else could be more barefaced pretence than that? Has Ortom taken Nigerians as morons? In his comic or error-laced statement, Ortom laboured so much to create the impression that the then five governors in the PDP supported Tinubu other than the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in a historic event that has become the greatest farce of Nigeria politics. It still beats my imagination on how Ortom wants us, the people of Benue State, to believe that he worked for Tinubu barely one year ago, whereas everyone in Benue State knows that he supported the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi. We remember how Ortom romantically expressed adoration for Peter Obi, the same as Nyesom Wike and even the rest of their co-travellers such as Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State. But for Seyi Mankinde of Oyo, the other four ex-governors subtly worked against President Bola Tinubu and they know that Nigerians, including Asiwaju, are aware of their trajectory. Now that they all lost out, the chickens have come home to roost and they have all become chess players battling for political survival. The four former governors need to understand that, like expired tin tomatoes, they are no longer good for cooking good Nigerian jollof rice. How can men who could not be useful while in power suddenly become useful four years after they have left office? How do they want a man as intelligent as Asiwaju to believe them? Methinks that they want to employ the same trick they used in destabilising the PDP to also destabilise the APC in 2027. My submission is that this group is completely irrelevant to predicting what will become the outcome of the 2027 elections. Time shall vindicate my foresight. Nysom Wike: Even though he is currently a minister, he would not have any influence in Rivers State again. Rivers State has so many political heavyweights with whom Wike is contending, including his predecessor, Chibuike Amaechi and his successor, Fubura, who has already started forming his own structure. In 2027, President Tinubu would need Fubara more than he needs Wike. Okezie Ikpeazu: From what Governor Alex Otti is already doing in Abia State, Ikpeazu has been made an enemy of the state who the people believe did little or nothing when compared to the unprecedented work going on in the state. He no longer has a political structure. So, his political future ended on May 29, 2023. By 2027, Ikpeazu would have become a sad memory, lost and inconsequential for any assistance to himself let alone to Asiwaju. Samuel Ortom: In Benue state, nobody likes Samuel Ortom because of his abysmal performance and grandstanding. As governor, he preferred to engage in vague wars with non-existent enemies and stood on it as an excuse for non-performance. Ortom’s vainglory made him get more confused. He also has no basic political structure. With Governor Alia and the SFG, George Akume, in Benue State, the state is in safe hands for President Tinubu and would not need a relegated player such as Ortom in 2027. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi: The common talk in Enugu State is that every political post in the state was sold to the highest bidder in the 2023 elections. There is no doubt that the amount of animosity the people of Enugu State have against his non-performance as governor has killed the hope of resurrecting his already buried political career. For Ugwuanyi to campaign for Tinubu in 2027 will definitely attract Mr. President the same hatred the people of Enugu have for Ugwuanyi. Seyi Makinde: The incumbent Oyo State governor is the only man in the G5 who many still wonder what he had to do with such political failures as listed above. He is the only man who would be relevant in 2027 when he would be handing over to a successor. Therefore, the G5, except Governor Makinde, is no doubt a group of four expired tin tomatoes that cannot cook good jollof rice come 2027. Let’s face it: Ortom’s Port Harcourt declaration is dead on arrival.
