Atiku, Kwankwaso Vow Not to Return to PDP 05 Jan 2015 As APC lauds Ohanaeze’s stand on Jonathan By Onyebuchi Ezigbo Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and the Kano State Governor, Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, have rejected moves by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to woo them back to the party from the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC). PDP’s National Secretary, Prof. Wale Oladipo, had recently muted the idea of luring both Atiku and Kwankwaso back to the party. But while reacting to the statement, Atiku’s spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, dismissed the story, saying his principal had bade farewell to the PDP and nothing would take him back to the party again. In the same vein, Kano State governor said the attempt to woo him back to the PDP was a confirmation and acknowledgement that the PDP was going to lose Kano in the 2015 general election without his help. Kwankwaso, who spoke through his Director of Press, Baba Halilu Dantiye, said asking the governor to abandon the APC and rejoin PDP signified a “vote of no confidence on the Kano PDP leadership.” Both Atiku and Kwankwaso had while undergoing screening for the APC presidential primaries signed an undertaking that they would not decamp from the party even if the failed at the primaries. Kwankwaso, who is presently the APC Kano Central senatorial candidate, however said he had never contemplated abandoning the APC because of the platform it gave him to render service to his people. Meanwhile, the APC in the South-east has congratulated Ohanaeze Ndigbo for “shooting down” a motion for the endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan as the candidate of the Igbos in the 2015 presidential election. A statement by the spokesman of the APC in the South-east, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, described those who opposed the motion, which was moved by a PDP chieftain, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, at the Imeobi (inner caucus) meeting of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo on Saturday as true Igbo patriots. Okechukwu expressed happiness that Ndigbo had realised that it did not make sense to put all their eggs in one basket, especially when the political scenario in the 2015 presidential election differs remarkably from that of 2011 when Jonathan was endorsed. “Ohanaeze by refusing to endorse President Jonathan has taken a cue from Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka’s New Year sermon at the Adoration Ground, that Nigeria needs change for the better. “As Mbaka said, ‘I love President Jonathan and I used to be his fan, but I want good for my people and that’s why I want Nigerians to vote out Jonathan and vote Buhari,” Okechukwu added. According to him, “If the Hausas have spread their dragnets in both PDP and APC and Yorubas have spread their dragnets in both PDP and APC, then Ndigbo should not blame anybody for marginalisation in the event of APC’s victory in the February 14 presidential election.” Okechukwu stressed that the APC in the South-east believes that Ohanaeze Ndigbo should remain neutral in the 2015 general election as there are Igbos in all the parties. “Igbos are not only in PDP – we have Igbo sons and daughters in APC, the main opposition party in the country today. “Our son, Chief Chekwas Okorie, is contesting under UPP, what happens to him if we endorse Jonathan? Ohanaeze is a polygamous father, we must spread our dragnet like our contemporaries in the Nigerian project. “Like the Hausas and Yorubas, we should take the battle to every flank, not just one flank because if we channel all our arsenals to one flank, and it goes the other flank at the end of the day, nobody will take us serious if tomorrow again we start complaining about marginalisation,” he said. He noted that only the self-serving Igbo politicians could rise up in the midst of the prevailing political scenario which favours APC to canvass for Jonathan’s endorsement. #ThisdayNews
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 06:38:24 +0000
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