Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal has said only corrupt party chieftains have defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Tambuwal also said the defectors left the PDP for APC to avoid likely prosecution for corruption.
The PDP governors, who converged on Bauchi to deliberate on the state of the nation, condemned what they described as “the use of underhand tactics to arm-twist PDP governors to join the APC.”
They reiterated their commitment to the electronic transmission of election results, urging the National Assembly to amend the Electoral Act to reflect the critical electoral reform.
The governors urged the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) and telecommunication service providers to improve access to network service for Nigerians ahead of the 2023 general elections. They said President Muhammadu Buhari should tackle insecurity and unemployment.
The meeting, hosted by Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, was presided over by Tambuwal. The meeting also deliberated on the economic and security challenges confronting the country and the crisis rocking the opposition party.
Tambuwal, who was represented by his Taraba State counterpart, Darius Ishaku, spoke at the gala night, held at the Bauchi Government House Banquet Hall, said the PDP will regain power in 2023.
He said: “We have no hope, except in PDP. We will live in the PDP, we will salvage whatever the country is left of when we regain power in 2023.
If you look around, it is only in the PDP states that projects are ongoing. I am speaking with facts and the minds of many Nigerians.”
“Those running and leaving the PDP to where their sins are forgiven… So, if you are a bad and corrupt man, you go over to APC to where your sins will be forgiven, but we do not agree and believe in intimidation. We will remain in the PDP, we will capture power and improve Nigeria “
Tambuwal, who condemned the APC-led government for failing to conquer Boko Haram after promising to achieve the feat within six months in power, added that the state of insecurity is getting worse.
“Those who said they were going to conquer Boko haram in 6-month, six years now they cannot do it. It is getting worse. We now have several Boko Harams terrorising the country. We will come and make Nigeria what it should be, the pride of Africa.”
In a communique read by Tambuwal, the governors stressed the need for the Electoral Act Amendment Bill to entrench the culture of free, fair and credible elections in the country.
They called on the National Assembly to adopt electronic transmission of results of elections in the nation’s electoral jurisprudence.
The governors also urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deploy appropriate technologies necessary to ensure that the votes of every Nigerian is counted and made to count.
The meeting condemned the attempt to foist direct primary election model on all political parties through the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, saying that the method is prone to massive rigging.
To buttress this point, the Forum cited the direct presidential primaries of the APC in 2018 where President Muhammadu Buhari scored 15 million votes to emerge the candidate of the APC and still scored the same 15 million votes from the entire country in the 2019 presidential election.
The governors advised that political parties should be allowed to decide whether to use direct or indirect method of conducting primaries as part of internal democracy in political parties.
The communique reads in part: “The Governors reiterated, once again, the need for the NNPC and other revenue generating agencies of Government to strictly abide by the Constitution by remitting all their revenues less cost of production, into the Federation Account as provided for by S.162 of the Constitution.
“The meeting condemned, once again, the use of underhand tactics to arm twist some PDP Governors and other stakeholders to join the APC, a political party that has wrecked Nigeria’s economy, turned Nigeria into a killing field and has nothing to offer Nigerians but misery and bad governance.
“The governors condemned Mr President and the APC for turning the Presidential Villa, that belongs to all Nigerians, into the new APC headquarters, where coerced PDP members are being paraded at intervals.
“On the economy, the meeting admonished the APC Federal Government to collaborate more with State Governments to stem the unemployment scourge affecting the youths of Nigeria, through technology and increased production in all fields of endeavour.”
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