Kano State Governor, Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso, yesterday urged the Governors of Jigawa and Niger States, Sule Lamido and Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, to have a rethink and join the All Progressives Congress (APC) to save the country from the security challenges bedeviling it.
This is just as the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, said the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan had pauperised Nigerians and worsened insecurity in the country.
Addressing a mammoth crowd at a zonal rally and the inauguration of the North-west National Executive Committee (NEC) of the APC held at the Trade Fair Complex in Sokoto yesterday, Kwankwaso advised the governors of Jigawa, Niger, Kebbi and Kaduna States to leave the PDP, saying the party had failed Nigerians.
He expressed optimism that Jigawa and Niger States governors would soon join the APC.
“I am calling on the G7 governors that we started this journey and movement together, especially Lamido and Aliyu to leave the PDP and join us.
“We have been meeting and sharing ideas with Kaduna State Governor, Ramalan Yero, and as such, we are calling on our brothers to come back home because this is where they belong,” Kwankwaso said.
The governor stated that Nigeria was bereft of credible leadership at the centre, lamenting that many Nigerians had been displaced internally as a result of the insurgency in the North.
He challenged the people of the North-west to join hands together to bring an end to PDP misrule in 2015.
He averred that PDP would be humiliated in the North-west and would become history in 2015, assuring the crowd that people would be adequately mobilised in the zone in order to wrest power from the PDP.
The governor said the APC was determined to show the PDP the exit door and relocate it to the archives in 2015.
“PDP has been ruling Nigeria for 16 years but left this country in ruins with insecurity challenges ravaging the North. We have the numbers and the large population to give us the required votes and we are ready to mobilise our people in the North-west to humiliate PDP in the 2015 polls.”
On his part, Oyegun noted that the transformation agenda of the Jonathan’s administration only brought poverty and insecurity in the country.
Also speaking, Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoko State stated that PDP’s time of was up, as Nigerians were tired of bad governance and insecurity challenges bedeviling the country.
He emphasised that the formation of an alliance was geared towards rescuing the country from the current drift and enable Nigerians sleep with their eyes closed.
He urged the national leadership of the party to be firm and determined to wrest power from the PDP in 2015.
“Nigerians are fed up with the PDP because people are hungry. So, I am urging the national leadership of the APC to be resolute and redouble its efforts to wrest power from the PDP,” Wamakko said.
Speaking at the occasion, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State said Nigerians were fed up with PDP’s deceit and deserved a change in 2015.
He emphasised that the APC was not a tribal or religious party but was established to bring the desired change in the country.
Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomole, stated that the APC was committed to bringing change by ushering in a people-oriented government in 2015.
In his remark, the Deputy National Chairman of the APC, Senator Lawal Shuaibu, said the APC rally was a beginning towards bringing an end to PDP misrule, Boko Haram insurgency and myriad of problems bedeviling the country in 2015.
Those who graced the occasion included Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Bello Masari; former Zamfara State Governor, Senator Ahmed Sani Yarima; former Bayelsa State Governor, Timipriye Sylva; members of the National Assembly and top politicians across the North-west states.
Meanwhile, former Head of State, Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), was absent at the APC rally.
THISDAY gathered that the staunch supporters and associates of Buhari shunned the rally.
The former Head of State did not send any representative and the organisers did not mention his name at the occasion.
In fact, no reason was given for Buhari’s absence at the APC rally organised for the North-west zone.
