Two Peoples Democratic Party governors
who had defected to the All Progressives Congress made a surprise
appearance at a peace meeting called by President Goodluck Jonathan on
Sunday.
The two governors are Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State and Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State.
Kwankwaso and Wamakko were driven into
the premises of the First Lady Conference Hall, Presidential Villa venue
of the meeting in the same car at about 9pm.
They arrived about an hour after one of the aggrieved PDP governors, Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, arrived the venue.
Aliyu, and the National Security
Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), were already seated at the venue
when Kwankwaso and Wamakko arrived.
The Chairman, Board of Trustees of the
PDP, Chief Tony Anenih, who also arrived before them went to confer with
the President inside his residence before joining them at the venue.
Jonathan and Vice -President Namadi Sambo arrived the venue at about 9.50pm.
At 10pm, other PDP governors who had
earlier met at the Akwa Ibom State Governors Lodge in Asokoro
arrived the venue of the meeting.
Those who arrived alongside the PDP
Governors’ Forum Chairman, Godswill Akpabio, were the governors of
Abia, Kebbi, Kogi, Katsina, Bauchi, Plateau, Enugu, Cross River, Akwa
Ibom, Delta, Ebonyi, Kaduna and Taraba States.
Another aggrieved governor , Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, who has not declared for the APC, did not attend the meeting.
The meeting was still ongoing as of 10.20pm when this report was filed.
Jonathan had on Saturday boasted that
the defection of five PDP governors to the APC would not affect the
fortune of the ruling party in future elections.
In his first public reaction to the
development , Jonathan said three of the five governors were still
sitting “on the fence.”
The five governors are Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Abdulfatah Ahmed(Kwara), Wamakko, Murtala Nyako(Adamawa) and Kwankwaso.
Jonathan, spoke with some media houses
before departing Paris for Abuja at the close of a two-day summit on
peace and security in Africa, said as the governors had decided to
leave, those still in the PDP would work harder to attract more
supporters .
He said, “We want those governors to
come back to the PDP, but in an event where some of them feel that it
is better to stay outside, they can go and try.
“If they are leaving , we will work
harder to make sure that we get more supporters so that at the end of
the day, the equilibrium will be maintained. But I still believe that in
Nigeria today, the PDP is still the party to beat.
“As they are leaving the ruling party to
the opposition, there are other key political actors who are ready to
come to the PDP. At the appropriate time, we will also receive them.”
Jonathan said the governors should not
be under the illusion that all their supporters would join them in
defecting to their new party.
While describing politics as dynamic, he
said “a governor elected by the people must not see himself as a king’’
who could lord it over the electorate.
He said, “I was elected by Nigerians and
I will not say because I am the President of Nigeria now, 100 per
cent of Nigerians are for me and when I am moving to the left or right,
I will be moving with the whole 100 per cent.
“Like the governor of a state, a faction
of a state elected them by simple majority and you are declared as a
governor. When you are moving, you should know that you are an
individual; not all your supporters will want to move with you. They
are not your employees and therefore some of them will stay.
“In some cases, the deputy governors in
the states are saying that they are not ready to move. I have said that
let us see how things will play out.
“However, in politics any party will want everybody in its camp and in the PDP, we want everybody.”
Despite the five governors’ open
declaration for the APC, Jonathan said only two appeared that they had
actually moved while others are still on the fence.
He however did not name the governors in the different categories.
Jonathan said,”They said they have some
grievances with the party and some of them said they were going to
leave. But so far, two have openly declared that they are not leaving
the party and we are talking to them.
“Out of the remaining five, two appear
that they have actually moved to the other political party while some
are still on the fence. I believe in a couple of weeks, it will not be
too long, it will be very clear whether they are leaving or not.’’
But Amaechi and Nyako faulted the President, saying the future will tell.
Amaechi, who spoke through his Chief of
Staff, Chief Tony Okocha, stated that the impact of the governors’
defection would soon be obvious.
“ The governor will not controvert
Mr. President. But let us watch and see. When you have 23 children and
you lose five, it will impact on you, especially when you are losing
them to your opponents and not to death,” he said.
Also, Nyako, through his Director of
Press and Public Relations, Ahmed Sajoh, said “It is a pity that the
President still thinks and feels that way. It is really a pity.”
The APC Interim National Publicity
Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in an interview with one of our
correspondents, said the defection of the five governors was a
tragedy to the PDP.
“Unless he(Jonathan) is planning to rig massively, the defection of the five governors is a tragedy to the PDP,” he added.
The APC spokesman said the statement by
the President clearly showed that he had no regard for the rule of law,
adding that it was very unpresidential.
He stated that the PDP would feel the impact of one governor much less five.
source: punchng.com
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