The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum and Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, has blasted those who recently left the PDP for the African Democratic Congress.
He simply described their defection as a strategic blunder, and Nigerians have been reacting.
Speaking at the ongoing Consultative Conference of PDP Founding Fathers and Stakeholders in Abuja, themed “Reclaiming Our Legacy, Renewing Our Collective Vision,” Bala disclosed that the coalition is nothing but a political anomaly.
According to him, it is impossible for politicians to maintain membership in two political parties simultaneously, and it is very strange for any political actor to abandon a stronger platform for one without a solid foundation.
He stated that the PDP will ultimately prove the defectors wrong in the near future.
“If somebody wants to leave PDP to go to another place, how is this smart in thoughts and in thinking? Because the PDP has history, a legacy, a structure everywhere and the governors are doing their best.
But because we are being hunted and we know what we are going through, and it is not for us to be cowardly and be talking about it. Yes, politics is local. Some may go due to certain reasons, certain permutations, calculations, but I think they will be proved wrong.
Even our elders that have gone, we don’t want to diminish them, we don’t want to denigrate or abuse them. We are telling them with humility: come back. That’s what the National Chairman has said — come back. This is what you have built. Where there are governors, where there are senators, members of the Houses, speakers, offices, local government chairmen, you are going to a party that has no office. It’s a malady.
We reason with them. Maybe in terms of their own calculation, they want to actualize their aspiration — to get tickets. But do you want to get a ticket and lose? So please, come back. You have no reason to go anywhere,” he said.
The Bauchi State governor further noted that the current PDP governors are guaranteeing effective governance in their respective states; therefore the party is working.
He concluded by saying that he doesn’t have any issue with defectors seeking greener pastures, but they should not demarket PDP after defection.
“But certainly, as the Chairman has said, we cannot take indiscipline to a level where it becomes contagious. If you are in PDP, you are in PDP. You cannot be in PDP and be in coalition with another party. We cannot do this. But you have all the time to decide. Coalition is an aberration, yes, I said it.
You cannot belong to two places. You cannot be an Aphrodite. You cannot be a man and a woman at the same time. Be who you will be. But we will still give you the opportunity to have a thought, because you are our leaders.
But if you are going, don’t demarket us. Demarketing of the PDP is not fair. Most of you actualized your political aspirations through this party. Some of them left us and caused our loss in 2015, and yet we accommodated them. And they left and came back. Some of them became governors, and some of them took tickets, just sprayed. It is only in PDP that you get that.
But sadly, we still respect them. But they should respect us too. We are not afraid of anybody in politics,” he added.
