It was not immediately clear
yesterday whether the party’s loss in the March 28 presidential election
triggered the defections.
In Jigawa, Kwara, Kebbi and Gombe
states, key political figures yesterday defected to the All Progressives
Congress (APC).
In Benue State, former Attorney
General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Michael Kaase Aondoakaa
resigned from the PDP. He is yet to join another party.
In Edo State, the PDP candidate
in the 2012 governor ship election, Maj.- Gen. Charles Arhiavbere was
received into the APC yesterday by Governor Adams Oshiomhole. He announced his
defection at the weekend.
Jigawa State Deputy Governor
Ahmed Mahmoud led the defectors at a ceremony in his home town Gumel.
Mahmoud along with a Special
Adviser to Governor Sule Lamido, Alhaji Bello Dansokoto; the immediate past
executive Chairman, Dutse Capital Development Authority, Alhaji Bashir Aminu
and the immediate past Chairman of Gumel Local Government Council, Alhaji Ya’u
Kura, defected, taking with them thousands of supporters.
The defectors were received by
executive members of the party and a massive crowd of APC supporters. They
described their exit from the PDP as “good riddance”.
Mahmoud, who spoke at the venue,
said: “My defection is as a result of my personal and supporters’
interest that prevailed on my conscience to do the right thing.”
The deputy governor, who spoke
amidst shouts of “change” by thousands of APC supporters, added: “I have been
loyal to Governor Sule Lamido up to this moment and I pray that all of you
should as a matter of respect reciprocate same to me and this party.”
He said he had no regret over his
decision to join the APC.
Mahmoud becomes the fourth deputy
governor to defect – the third to leave the PDP for the APC – after Niger State
Deputy Governor Ahmed Ibeto and Ondo State Deputy Governor Ali Olanusi.
Rivers State Deputy Governor Tele Ikuru left the APC for the PDP.
But after his action yesterday,
the state PDP chapter issued a statement saying it had expelled Mahmud.
The statement signed by the PDP
chairman of Galagamma ward in Gumel, Jigawa State Alhaji Ibrahim Kafinta, said
the decision to expel Mahmoud was taken during a stakeholders meeting held in
his ward.
Kafinta alleged that the deputy
governor sabotaged the party during the National Assembly elections.
He said the Gumel Local
Government headquarters of the party had endorsed the expulsion.
Former Governor Saminu Turaki
also defected to the APC.
Turaki requested that his
official reception into the party should be held at his Kazaure Emirate home
town today.
He was joined on the defection
train by Alhaji Abba Anas and Senator Muhammad Dudu. Dudu represented Jigawa
North-East Senatorial District between 1999 and 2007.
Receiving the defectors, APC
Chairman Ado Sani Kiri said the party had increased from strength to strength.
He assured the new members that they would be accorded the same treatment as
those they met in the party.
One of the defectors, former
House of Representatives member Alhaji Anas, explained why he joined the APC.
The former member representing
Guri/Hadejia/Kirikasamma Federal Constituency said:”I am joining the PDP due to
the overwhelming support Nigerians gave to General Muhammadu Buhari and one cannot
be left out”.
Gombe State House of Assembly
Majority Leader Mamman Alkali yesterday joined hundreds of others who left the
ruling PDP for the APC.
The defectors included over 50
Special and Personal Assistants to Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo.
Alhaji Ibrahim Zamfara, a member of PDP Elders Committee, who spoke on behalf
of the defectors, said they dumped the PDP because they wanted to avoid a
situation where Gombe would end up as an opposition state.
”We have decided to embrace
change because of shoddy happenings in the PDP. The party lacks transparency
and we are fed up with the discriminatory activities of PDP in Gombe State.
”We feel it will be better for us
to pitch our tent with the winning train so that the state can benefit and move
forward,” he said.
Receiving the defectors, APC
governorship candidate Alhaji Inuwa Yahaya promised them a fair deal, saying
they should feel free and consider themselves as bona fide members of the party.
He said their decision was timely
and would further enhance APC’s fortunes ahead
of Saturday’s governorship and legislative elections
In Ilorin, no fewer than 20,000
supporters of the 2011 governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of
Nigeria (ACN) in Kwara State, Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN), have defected to the
APC.
The defectors were led by Rev.
Bunmi Olusona, a close associate of Belgore.
Belgore was the state’s
coordinator of the Jonathan Campaign Organisation.
Mr. Adebayo Ajimoti, Alhaji Gobir
Mohammed, Alhaji Dele Sarkinwa, Dr. Mohammed Potun, Funso Agaka, Alhaji Nasiru
Ubandawaki, Mr. Yunus Abdullahi and Mr. Dada Abiodun also defected.
In a letter addressed to the
state’s chairman of APC, Alhaji Ishola Balogun-Fulani, the former PDP leaders
traced their decision to a meeting they held with the APC leader in the state,
Dr. Bukola Saraki, and their realisation that the PDP is “made up of people who
do not have the interest of the state at heart”.
The letter, dated April 6,
2015, described their decision to join the PDP in the first instance, as a
result of “ignorance”, They lamented that what they found in the PDP was best
described as belonging to a “generation of vipers”.
The letter said: “We make bold to
tell Kwarans that they should stay away from the party because it is a sinking
ship.” The letter claimed that the PDP had been able to produce an array of bad
candidates who voters have come to see as clueless politicians.
The defectors also wrote that
they were never comfortable with the environment due to what they labelled as
the practice of politics of bitterness by “self-seeking and attention-craving
politicians”.
The defectors said “for continued
progress and prosperity”, the new APC members directed their followers to
freely go to thelr wards and team up with the APC and vote for the party’s
candidates for governorship and House of Assembly positions.
Aondoakaa (SAN) sent a letter of
resignation “with immediate effect” from the PDP to his ward chairman, asking
that his name be struck off the members’ list in Lessel Township Ward.
Aondoakaa, said he came to “this
important decision” after due consultation with his family, friends and
political associates. He said he would concentrate on his legal practice.
On the governorship and House of
Assembly elections, he enjoined the people to vote according to their
conscience.
The immediate past chairman of
the PPD in Kebbi State and dozens of other leaders have dumped the party for
the APC,.
Three aggrieved governorship
aspirants – Mansir Mansa, Hussaini Adamu and Zubairu Dabai – also
defected to the APC.
They accused the PDP of
victimising them and expressed a lack of confidence that the party will give
them justice.
Other party leaders who moved to
the APC are: Abbas Jega, Danjuma Kamba, Shehu Malisa, Bala Gwandu, Rilwanu
Auwal, Ilyasu Kambaza, Dambegu Vice, Usman Zuru, Danjuma Zuru, Aliyu Kalgo,
Haruna Magarza, Abu Dangoje, and Bello Kaoje, who lost the Suru/Bagudu Federal
Constituency election to an APC candidate.
The running mate of the APC
governorship candidate, Sama’ila Yombe, who received the defectors in
Zuru on Sunday, said the party was consulting with many other PDP members
to join the APC before the governorship election.
“PDP is not a party to remain
in,” he said.
Source: The Nation
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