Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the National Publicity Secretary of Action Congress of Nigeria, Friday, rocked Nigeria`s political landscape, saying twenty three governors are already in the fold of the yet to be registered All Progressive Congress (APC).
Mohammed, who spoke in Lagos at the 7th Town Hall Meeting of Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, said, “12 more governors had signified interest to join the party in addition to the 11 already in the fold.”
“The 12 governors will make their declarations after the party has been registered, possibly in two weeks’ time.
“We are likely to get our registration certificate by the end of June or second week of July,” he noted.
Lai Mohammed’s pronouncement gives credence to media report that at least eight PDP governors had perfected plans defect to APC.
Citing marginalisation and lack of confidence in the party leadership, which has been totally “commandeered” by President Goodluck Jonathan and the Aso Rock political apparatchik. The governors the report alleged had come to the conclusion that their political fortunes can only dwindle in PDP and as such are weighing their strategic options and next political moves having reached some political “agreement-in-principle” with the Bola Tinubu and Muhammadu Buhari – led opposition merger group, All Progressives Congress (APC), after several meetings in Lagos and Abuja.
“The governors have however, agreed on a number of decisions at present,” THISDAY reported.
One of these is to approve the agreement with and move en-mass, with the Senators, House of Representatives members, state assembly members, local council chairmen and political structures at all levels in their states, into the opposition APC.
And in doing this, they will be keeping their political structures in their states, at the local government and state levels, intact and alter the political landscape of Nigeria effectively making the PDP-led Federal Government a minority government as they will then have 21 state governors against the PDP’S 15.
According to the report, the defecting governors are those of Rivers (Rotimi Amaechi), Adamawa (Murtala Nyako), Kano (Rabiu Kwankwaso), Jigawa (Sule Lamido) and Kebbi (Seidu Dakingari).
Others are Governors Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto and Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara.
Chief Tony Anenih, chairman of PDP (BOT) has since dispelled the alleged defection by PDP governors, saying that no PDP governor is planning to defect.
However, two out of the eight listed in report have been suspended by the PDP, and indications are rife that many more will be axed soon.
Asked about the alleged exodus of PDP governors,,Olisa Metuh, National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party ,said, none of its responsible governors will defect to the yet-to-be registered APC.
He stated that though there were challenges before the party now, those challenges were resolvable.
He further stated that it was wrong for the spokesperson for the ACN (Mohammed) to have thought that PDP governors would defect to the APC.Noting that APC is not an alternative to the PDP. APC is a party of extremists, party of religious bigots and tribal jingoists. It is a party doomed to fail.
