But the Benue State governor, Samuel Orthom and Chairman of the group has endorsed Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

The G-5 which has made it very clear it would boycott the presidential campaign council of Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate unless the party’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, resigns, met several times in the country and abroad but has so far failed to find a common ground.

Reports that it had given the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, some conditions in order to give him the group’s support was immediately shot down by Tinubu, who denied meeting the group in London during the Christmas holiday as he was headed for Saudi Arabia for prayer.

Also, the arrow head of the group, Nyesom Wike, the Rivers State Governor, denied as rumours any of such meetings and advised those he called rumour mongers to desist from spreading what he described as fake news propagated out of “bad belly.”

Ortom, who has often spoken on behalf of the groups stopped short of announcing who the group would support yesterday but doubled down on his earlier positive appraisal of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Obi, saying ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s endorsement was in order and appropriate.

Speaking yesterday through Terver Akase, his spokesperson, Ortom said he is convinced that Obi “possesses the qualities of a leader who will be a true president of this country by guaranteeing justice, equity and fairness for all Nigerians”.

According to the statement, “Governor Ortom strongly recommends Peter Obi to Nigerians as the man who has the capacity to effectively tackle the economic, security and other challenges facing the country.”

However, it’s gathered that the G-5 camp is enmeshed in confusion on the way out of the impasse since one of them is going for his second term.

The Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, is gunning for a second term. It is feared that if care is not taken, any open declaration for any presidential candidate order than their party’s presidential candidate could boomerang.

Besides, three more governors are senatorial candidates and could face electoral defeat if they go ahead to declare their support for a rival candidate.

But Ortom, who’s one of the senatorial candidates, did not appear to care much about his chances as he described Obi as the only candidate who can reverse the dangerous route Nigeria is headed.

“The Governor stresses that for some years, the country has been tottering on the verge of collapse, owing to leadership failure and its attendant consequences of poverty, heightened insecurity with banditry, kidnappings and other acts of terrorism threatening the very foundations of the nation.

“He says the President that Nigeria needs at this challenging time in the country’s history is one who understands the urgent need to unite the people and speedily initiate policies and actions to redirect the ship of the nation on the path of growth and development, and emphasizes that Peter Obi has all such qualities.

“Governor Ortom lauds Chief Obasanjo for once again demonstrating objectivity, truth and patriotism as a statesman whose views on national issues must be taken seriously,” Ortom said.

Also, former Federal Commissioner for Information and South-South leader, Edwin Clark, has endorsed the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, as his candidate for the February presidential election.

Clark, who addressed journalists at his Asokoro residence, Abuja, said that with Obi as president, Nigeria will unite the country with his move to restructure the country.

According to Clark, one who must be the next president of the country must be educated and experienced, just as he said that the South-East should be allowed to produce the next president because the zone has resourced and educated people to govern the country.

Clark said, “I  have since been fully briefed on the successful outcome of the interaction held at that occasion. Amongst other things, I have taken note of the following observations which came out of the meeting: That PANDEF presented the expectations and demands of the peoples of the Niger Delta, comprising infrastructural development, devolution of power, resource control, effective and inclusive participation in the oil and gas sector, amongst other things, to the presidential candidate.

“That the vision statement shared by His Excellency, Peter Obi, at the occasion, as it relates to making Nigeria more productive, using the rich resource endowment in every part of the country; curbing waste and fighting corruption; and creating jobs for our teeming youths through innovative initiatives is very commendable.

“That his restated commitment to restructuring and devolution of power, will promote harmony, peaceful coexistence amongst the states and constituent parts of the country.

“That his vision for more equity and justice as it pertains to the South-South region, which  in the past sixty years has produced much of the revenue for the national economy, but has been neglected with little impact in terms of infrastructure and social development, is convincing and commendable.

“Peter Obi’s commitment to environmental justice to the clean up of the Niger Delta polluted communities is most welcomed, given that even the ongoing Ogoni clean-up has been rather slow.

“His commitment to inclusion of qualified persons from the Niger Delta in the national governance process in the future government if elected into power is very reassuring.”