ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kano State has described the defection of Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri and his Enugu counterpart, Peter Mbah, to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a relief to the party.
Reacting to the development, the Kano PDP Chairman, Yusif Ado Kibiya, said the party was glad that both governors finally left, noting that their exit came as no surprise and carried no electoral value.
According to him, “It’s not a shocker. All of them, we knew they were going. Anybody in PDP knows. We know that. It’s not a shocker.
“We are glad they are gone because you can’t deal with people with double-edged swords. These people are compromised.
“They are thinking they are getting some pay; all these things, by the central government. And some were threatened. It’s very clear. So it’s nothing new with PDP. We all know.”
Vanguard reports that Kibiya accused the federal government of deliberately trying to destroy the PDP and turn Nigeria into a one-party state.
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When asked whether the defections could affect the party’s electoral prospects, Kibiya dismissed such fears, saying governors do not determine election outcomes.
“Is the governor the electorate? This is where people are making this mistake,” he said. “Because we are making our case to the electorate, the people. And this election is going to be the people versus the government. Nigeria versus the government. Not PDP at all.”
The chairman added that the PDP would continue to focus on producing credible candidates who could win the people’s trust.
“So we will make sure that the PDP gets the best candidates. And then the people will decide. Let all the governors go to the APC. I don’t even see how it is going to function,” he stated.
Kibiya further argued that internal challenges are not unique to the PDP but common to all political parties, including the APC.
“The thing is that in any party, there is this kind of issues. Not only PDP. PDP is the strongest party, and of course, there are issues that came out of the PDP.
“There are people who betrayed PDP, who thought PDP has died. They never believed we can go this far. And they formed their parties like that. Where are they now? Wait for the time.
“APC will explode. Of course, it will explode,” Kibiya added.