2023 Presidency: 6 strong PDP states Atiku may lose in 2023

In Nigeria’s presidential elections, political parties are naturally expected to win the states where the governors belong to them.

This is because governors wield strong influence in their respective states and are expected to work for their presidential candidate’s victory.

However, there have been some instances where presidential candidates lost in the states where the governors belong to their parties.

To cite a few examples, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was in charge of Oyo state before the 2019 elections, with the late Abiola Ajimobi as the governor.

Nevertheless, President Muhammadu Buhari lost the state to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

Similarly, Buhari lost to Atiku in Imo state, where Rochas Okorocha was the serving governor before the 2019 polls. One of the major factors responsible for Buhari’s loss in the two cited APC-controlled states then was internal crises.

The same scenario may play out for Atiku, who has again secured the PDP presidential ticket, in 2023.

Ahead of the 2023 general election, the ruling APC controls 21 states while the opposition PDP is in charge of 14, including the newest gain, Osun.

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) controls the remaining state, Anambra.

However, out of the 14 states the PDP controls, the party has serious internal crises in six, namely:

1. Rivers

2. Oyo

3. Abia

4. Enugu

5. Benue

6. Bauchi

Four of the states are in the south, while the remaining two are in the north.

The G5 governors and the PDP crisis

Five PDP governors, now better known as G5 governors, have not only withdrawn their support for Atiku’s presidential bid; they are openly campaigning against him even though they opted not to leave the party.

The governors are: Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu).

They are working against Atiku and the PDP following the party’s refusal to grant their demand: Iyorchia Ayu’s resignation as the national chairman.

Since Atiku is a northerner, the G5 governors said Ayu, who is also from the north, should step down for a southerner to take over.

However, their demand was not granted.