PAGE 3
PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2013
News
Defection healthy for democracy – Yakasai, Tofa, Zorro From Edwin Olofu, Kano
F
ormer Adviser to exPresident Shehu Shagari on Assembly Matters, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai said the defection of five of the G-7 Governors to the All Progressives Congress (APC) will bring about vibrant opposition in the polity, which is good for democracy. He said the implication is that the number of governors in the PDP is now 17, instead of 22, pointing out that APC will now
have 16 governors. He explained that by calculation, one can project that the governorship election in 2015 will be altered as the PDP may lose five states, Sokoto, Kano, Rivers, Kwara and Adamawa. Yakasai said the sudden defection of the G-7 Governors to the APC will alter the political equation of the 2015 general elections. Meanwhile, former Presidential candidate and APC chieftain, Alhaji Bashir Othman
…Reps too react By Umar Mohammed-Puma
P
rominent members of the House of Representatives including the Minority Leader, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila (APC Lagos) said, “We receive them and all others, who are committed to change and who are progressive in inclination, with open arms. The change that Nigerians desire has only just started”. Rep. Aliyu Sani Madaki, (nPDP Kano) said, “It is a welcome development; we have been waiting for that to happen. All members of the PDP in Kano state would join the APC. I can vow for that, except Rep. Faruk Lawan and Rep. Muhammad Bashir Galadanchi, these are the one I’m not sure of. Apart from these two, all of us would join APC”. The House Chief Whip, Rep Isiaka Bawa, said: “As the Nigerian Constitution provides they have the right to freedom of association; they have the right to launch any political party of their choice. Nobody is in PDP by force. You can decide to leave at any time you wish to. “But what I want Nigerians to know is that PDP will continue to wax stronger despite all that is happening. This is not the first time in PDP; this is not the first time in the political development of Nigeria. I’ll like to take you back to 1983 when some progressive governors decided to leave their party; we have Nwobodo; we have Abubakar Barde, Abubakar Rimi and a host of them who left their party, but what was the result after
they left? “If that is their wish, the constitution guarantees them that freedom. In PDP, we have 1001 ways of consolidating ourselves. In 2011, there were some strong members of the PDP that left, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, but the PDP still won. “It depends on the calculation and the members that show interest. Is it all members that show interest? We’re not aware of any member that is to move with his governor. Until a letter is being sent to Mr Speaker and read on the floor of the House before we can decide to count to know the number of people who defected. PDP will never be minority in the House up to 2015; But, the House Deputy Minority Leader, Rep. Kawu Sumaila (APC Kano), expressed joy that the aggrieved PDP governors have resolved to join his party but cautioned that the merger would only work in an atmosphere of justice, equity and fairplay. “It is a welcome development that will forever shape the political history of Nigeria. With this merger, a new chapter has now been opened in our collective struggles for the emancipation of the Nigerian people from the 14 years of internal slavery, bondage and suppression under the PDP. “However, I will like to use this opportunity to re-iterate the fact that this marriage can only be sustained in an atmosphere of justice, equity, fair play and respect for the tenets of democracy”, he said.
Tofa said the long awaited news of the merger of the rebel PDP with the APC is a welcome development. “The merger is part of efforts by all those who wish to see a change in today’s Nigeria, so that tomorrow can be better for all. I have been advocating this movement for a long time, because I truly believe it is in the best interest of democracy and good governance in Nigeria, as well as the best interest of both the APC and the former members
of the new PDP”. In the same vein, the spokesperson of APC in Jigawa state, Mallam Sani Zorro said the option taken by the four governors after weighing where the country have found itself, decided to pitch their tent with the party was a welcome development. Zorro a former President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) described it as the most progressive political development in the history of the country in
recent times, pointing out that this is the fourth merger out of so many that have been tried but failed from 1981 to date, where so many efforts were made by the progressives to come together but this time, it has come to stay. Zorro believes that the political equation will provide the decamping governors to align with the progressives and counter the domineering PDP in its quest to wrest power from them in 2015.
President Goodluck Jonathan (right), receiving letter of credence from new U.S Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. James Entwistle (left), yesterday at the State House, in Abuja. With them is Supervising Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri (middle). Photo: Joe Oroye
‘. . . It’s beginning of a new beginning’ From James Ogunnaike, Abeokuta
T
he Ogun state chapter of the APC has described the merger of the aggrieved governors from the ruling PDP with the APC as the “beginning of a new beginning” in the major opposition party in the country. The party’s spokesman, Sola Lawal told newsmen in a telephone conversation in Abeokuta, that the party saw the decampment coming, “hence
we fixed our commencement of registering members to 30th of this month. On his part, former Senior Special Adviser on Media to former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, Chief Kayode Odunaro said the decampment is justified having waited on the Presidency to iron issues out with the G7 governors to no avail, saying that “since the alternative is there, the decision to join APC is justified and acceptable in
democracy.” Odunaro, who is now a chieftain of the APC in Ogun state said, “with the shabby treatment the PDP gave to their former Chairman, Board of Trustees, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and former governor of a state under the same platform, Prince Oyinlola and now the defection of the governors, we are sure going to have a wake keep service for a possible funeral for the purported largest party in Africa.”
..We’re not threatened, say Presidency, PDP cont from page 2 categorically that the PDP remains unperturbed as we are now rid of detractors and distractions. We urge all our members nationwide to remain focussed and close ranks, now that agents of distraction have finally left our ranks. “We wish to remind our members that from the rulings of the court there are no factions whatsoever in the PDP. In the eyes of the law, the PDP remains one
and an indivisible entity under the leadership of Alh. Bamanga Tukur, CON. We wish to commend the wise decision of some of the aggrieved governors to dissociate themselves from the action of some of their colleagues. We assure all Nigerians that the PDP will continue to grow from strength to strength and will definitely emerge stronger from this event. “We reiterate that the position of the law is very clear that there
is no faction whatsoever in the PDP. “We wish to use this opportunity to remind all PDP members that the peace process initiated by President Goodluck Jonathan is still on course and we wish to thank him for his patience, humility and spirit of accommodation. The meeting between the President and aggrieved members shall hold on Sunday, December 01, 2013. “Finally, we wish to reassure
our teeming members that our doors remain open to address all grievances. We shall however not condone any acts of internal subversion from any quarters”, he said. In the meantime, National leader of the APC, former governor of Lagos state, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his comments on the development said the merger “is a good rescue mission for our fledgling democracy; it’s a must for the country; it’s very
necessary and we are happy about that. “We are happy with the development, we have commitment to rescue our country from drifting and we act as a group to promote the interest of this country. “Patriotism is defined as not being about oneself, personal goal, but that of the society, the nation or corporate entity. That is what we are putting forward”, he stressed.