Friday, 6 June 2014
NASS is a PDP assembly, defected governors not noticed – Jonathan
President Goodluck Jonathan has said the ruling
Peoples Democratic Party ‘own’ the National Assembly
and the party is not missing any of its five governors
who defected to the All Progressives Congress.
He futher said some of the affected governors can no
longer win ward elections in their respective states.
President Jonathan spoke in Abuja on Thursday during
the 65 National Executive Committee meeting of the
ruling party, which was held at its national
headquarters.
Governors who left the PDP for the APC are Rotimi
Amaechi(Rivers), Aliyu Wamakko(Sokoto), Rabiu
Kwankwanso (Kano), Murtala Nyako(Adamawa) and
Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara).
The President said even though there was apprehension
when the governors left, he said he believed that the
ruling party was still strong and that this was why he
asked the national chairman of the party to organize
zonal rallies, which he said was aimed at showing its
popularity.
President Jonathan said, “I appreciate the governors.
Though some people left us, we’re not noticing their
absence.
“When some governors moved and some members of
the National Assembly also moved, some people
thought they would soon overrun the party, but when I
looked across, from my privileged vantage position, I
didn’t really see the threat.
“I told the national chairman to let us organise national
unity rallies, to demonstrate our strength, so that
people will know that one or two persons leaving is
inconsequential.
“I’m not even sure they can win their wards in an
election now, because some of those states are totally
PDP states.
“When you leave and you think you would be leaving
with the whole state, by the time you get there, you’ll
discover that others stayed back and are continuing
with the PDP. Some of the governors are even afraid to
conduct local govt elections.”
Despite the defection, he said the PDP remains solid,
adding that it remains the dominant party, and that it
would surely will “win our elections, free and fair.”
He said that the trend of defection was already
changing, adding that some people have started
returning while others were also defecting to the ruling
party from the opposition.
Jonathan said that when the defected governors left,
there was a stalemate, but he said he was happy that
politicians have realised that the only place where
decent politicking could take place was in the PDP.
According to him, “At a time the whole thing was
stalemated, but now more people are even coming to
the PDP because if you really want to play politics, the
party to be in is PDP.
“Our democratic credentials go unchallenged. It’s still
the only party where you can become a candidate
based on free and fair primaries. It’s the party where we
don’t impose candidates on constituencies.
“It the party whose candidates are accepted by the
constituencies at various levels, including senatorial,
state level, house of reps or state assemblies. And I
believe that with this position of the party, we’ll
continue to dominate the political landscape of this
country.
“PDP is still the only party that has never changed its
name, logo etc. When you go abroad they can’t
remember the names of the other parties due to the
level of mutation. We thank all members of the party
for their selflessness.”
On the frosty relationship between the executive and
the National Assembly, the President said that at a
point, his counterparts from other Economic
Community of West African States usually confront
him with negatives reports from the assembly.
He said most of these heads of states usually wondered
whether the ruling Party in Nigeria was actually in
charge of the assembly.
The President said, “At a time we had issues in the
National Assembly and as PDP members we were
beginning to worry.
“When I attend ECOWAS and African Union meetings,
people keep asking me what the problem is and that
what’s coming out of the NASS does not reflect the fact
that the party controls the assembly
“But since Adamu Mu’azu, the game changer assumed
control, we have begun to see change. We now see that
the NASS is a PDP assembly.”
He also commended state chairmen for carrying on in
spite of great challenges.
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