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APC woos G7 govs, promises to hand over
party structure to them
on october 18, 2013 at 1:15 am in news
*We ‘re not averse to any ‘big fish’ joining us — Lai
Mohammed
BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR
The All Progressive Congress, APC, is pressing on
with its campaign to woo the seven rebel governors
in the breakaway faction of the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, with the offer of complete control of APC
structures in their states, Vanguard has learnt.
The offer nonetheless, the G7 governors were
yesterday still holding out for possible changes in the
PDP, asserting that defection to the APC or any other
party remained an option that would be fully
explored at the appropriate time.
The offer to the rebel governors was formally made
by Umar Duhu, National Vice-Chairman of the APC,
North-East, during an unprecedented Sallah visit by
top party officials to Governor Murtala Nyako of
Adamawa State, one of the rebel governors.
Sources present at the meeting in Yola told Vanguard
that the APC officials told governor Nyako that it was
the policy of the APC to offer any governor that
defects to the party the complete structure of the
new opposition party.
Meanwhile, acting National Publicity Secretary of the
APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said the party would
not be averse to any big fish, including any or all of
the seven rebel governors joining the new opposition
party.
The offer of the party structures which was formally
tabled to the governors during the Sallah visit, it was
learnt, was symbolized by the offer of kola to the
governor on Wednesday.
“It is our party policy that any governor that joins us
from the opposition would be given the party
structure in his state,” the APC officials were quoted
as telling Nyako.
By offering the structure of the party to the
governors, the governors would automatically
produce the executive officials of the party in the
states. It was further learnt that the APC may have
deferred the appointment of interim executives in
the affected states based on the consideration.
“In Hausa culture, we have a practice that if
somebody presents you with kolanut and if you
accept it, you have automatically accepted the
person, so it is not a matter of if, but of when,” an
associate of the governor told Vanguard yesterday.
Reacting to the development yesterday, the National
Publicity Secretary of the nPDP, Chief Chukwuemeka
Eze told Vanguard that defection to the APC was an
option now being forced on the nPDP governors.
“Let us face the facts. The fact is that it is our desire
to take PDP back to the vision of the founding
fathers, but what is our situation where we fail? Do
we as politicians continue with the impunity that is
being perpetuated by a cabal in PDP where two or
three persons gather and say sack this person,
suspend this person, revoke this land, seal up this
secretariat, is that how to practice democracy,” he
asked?
“So, if we have other options of which APC is one of
the options nothing stops us from exploring those
opportunities but at the moment the governor of
Adamawa State is a Nigerian and he has every liberty
to associate or being visited by anybody but that
does not mean in any way that our group has sat and
agreed that we are moving.
“At the moment we are in PDP and we will be in PDP
to salvage our party. It is where we deem it to be
impossible and there is no other alternative than to
look for another platform to execute our programmes
for Nigerians,” he told Vanguard.
Reacting to the development, the National Publicity
Secretary of the APC, Mohammed said the party was
not averse to any big fish joining the party.
According to him, even though Duhu did not have
the formal mandate to bring in the rebel PDP
governors, he did not see anything wrong in the
efforts of the national vice-chairman.
“If the national vice chairman of our party went to
invite Nyako to join APC it is very much in order. I
mean it is part of mobilisation, it is part, I don’t see
anything amiss there and I don’t see how that it is
out of sync with the thinking of the national
leadership of the party.
“Mobilisiation is an essential part of politicking, if for
whatever reason we use the opportunity of a Sallah
visit to formally invite him, I don’t see anything
wrong in it. I am not aware that the party would be
averse to anybody bringing any big fish into the
party whether or not he has the mandate is irrelevant
at this point.
”Are you going to paralyse a person if he is able to
land a whole governor into your party? Even if he
doesn’t have the mandate at the end of the day if he
succeeds it is a plus for the party,” Mohammed said.

www.vanguardngr.com/2013/10/apc-woos-g7-govs-promises-hand-party-structure/

It is good for the ruling party to have a strong opposition. We need a two party system in Nigeria. This will humble the ruling party and put them on their toes. Enough of 'biggest party in Africa' without nothing to show for it.