The Governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako, has said he and his four other colleagues, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to join the All Progressives Congress, did not do so to upstage the leadership of the APC.
The governor said contrary to insinuations in some quarters, he and his colleagues in the G5 were motivated by higher patriotic motives.
Nyako said this in a statement signed by the Director of Press and Public Affairs, Mr. Ahmad Sajoh, on Monday.
He said, the governors were motivated by among other things, a need to provide Nigerians with a viable opposition platform to check the current drift in the polity.
Nyako listed the drift to include the replacement of all democratic cultures and tenets with a culture of impunity and political brigandage.
Nyako explained that the five governors were also motivated by the need to join other patriots to form a Pan-Nigerian National Platform that will serve as a veritable vehicle for the enthronement of genuine unity, peace and progress in the nation.
The statement read in part, “The governor recalls that at the time they pulled out of the PDP, several options were open to them.
“They could have formed a new political party; they could have joined a newly registered party or any of the other existing political parties in Nigeria.
“But they opted to join the APC because it represents a broad-based coalition of democratic forces built on the ideals of progress and development.
“These ideals are very important and should be respected by all members of the party nationwide.
“It is, therefore, imperative that all members of the APC hold on these ideals at all times. Under such circumstances, there should be no reason to disagree on anything; least of all leadership of the party at any level.”
Nyako expressed the belief that it was only by the coming together of progressive forces that Nigeria would be saved from the vice grip of a cabal that had held the presidency captive and had continued to provide excuses for countless failures.
He accused the unmanned cabal for unwittingly reducing all arguments about the future of Nigeria to non issues, such as ethnicity and religious bigotry.
Nyako also observed that under such circumstances, the progress of the nation had stagnated, leadership focus had become clannish and mediocrity had taken over serious business of government.
These, he added, the real challenges before all patriots and these were the motives behind the move by the G5 Governors and all other patriotic forces within the National Assembly and other sections of the polity.
While reacting to a statement issued by the PDP on Sunday, Nyako accused the PDP leadership as clannish ethnic chauvinist and religious bigots, hence they described others in the same manner.
http://www.punchng.com/news/we-didnt-join-apc-for-leadership-positions-nyako/