The Governor of Adamawa State, Jibrila Bindo yesterday declared that he would not follow former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to defect from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He vowed to remain in the APC for the rest of his life.
Speculations have been rife that Bindo may likely tow the line of Atiku, who, last week quit the APC on account of the absence of internal democracy and the party’s failure to fulfill its promises to Nigerians.
However, the Governor while speaking with State House Correspondents after a private meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday distanced himself from Atiku’s decision to dump the party.
Bindo, who said he was in the State House to brief President Buhari on the security situation in Adamawa, wondered why he would also leave the APC on account of Atiku, especially as he, along with others, had worked hard to put the party structure in place.
His words: “First of all, the former Vice President is more than matured enough to decide whatever he wants for himself. As far as I am concerned, I am one of the founding fathers of APC.
“When I was in the Senate with the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, we worked very hard with all members of the National Assembly that we agreed to move to the APC and we did. So, I don’t see any reason why I should leave the house I helped to build. I am in APC for the rest of my life.”
In a related development, the Edo State chapter of the APC yesterday played down Atiku’s defection from the party, saying it was a personal decision that would not affect the party’s fortunes in the state.
Addressing a press conference, the State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Chris Azebamwan said: “Politics is a game of numbers with all the political clout Atiku wields, he alone cannot singlehandedly determine the fortune of any political party that he aligns with, be it APC or any other party.
“He has exercised his right of choice and association, as an individual as enshrined in our laws and constitution and nobody can take that away from him. ”He also defended Governor Godwin Obaseki over the continued delay in the commencement of the new wing of the accident and emergency ward of the Central Hospital Benin City.
Meanwhile, former acting Governor of Kogi State, Clarence Olafemi has hailed Atiku for his planned visit to former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Ogun State, saying the visit was a timely and welcome development.
Olafemi, who spoke yesterday in Lokoja when he and over 3,000 supporters declared their support for Atiku, said the former Vice President’s decision to defect to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came at the appropriate time for the party and his political ambition.
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