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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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