26th November, 2013
The journey of the seven PDP governors who defected to the All Progressives Congress today began on 31 August at the Eagles Square, Abuja, venue of the party’s convention, when they walked out of the convention to hold a separeate convention at the Yar Adua International Centre in Abuja.
The aggrieved governors accused the leadership of the party of high handedness and anti democratic tendencies in the way it has been running the affairs of the party and called for the removal of the National Chairman of the party, Dr. Bamanga Tukur.
The governors who took what has now turned out to be a final walk away from the troubled party are those of Jigawa, Niger, Sokoto, Rivers, Niger, Adamawa and Kwara states.
The governors followed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, a former chairman of the PDP, Abubakar Baraje and some senators who also walked out to the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja where they told the world their reasons for walking out on the party.
The reasons include meddling in the affairs of the Governors’ Forum by President Goodluck Jonathan who refused to recognise Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State who won the chairmanship election of the party and the president’s ambition of going for a second term in office, contrary to an earlier agreement.
The governors also called for the removal of Tukur as the Chairman of the party and that the president should rescind his decision to go for a second term.
Several meetings were held between the president and the aggrieved governors to find a way of resolving the issues but all the efforts proved unsuccessful as the governors stuck to their guns.
The last straw that broke the camel’s back was the refusal of the leadership of the party to recognise the Appeal Court judgment which reinstated the suspended Secretary of the party, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, into his position in the party.
Instead of reinstating Oyinlola, the party suspended him and others from the party. Also, President Jonathan’s decision to shift a meeting of the governors with him on Sunday may have hastened the governors departure from the PDP.
The division within the PDP, provided ample opportunity for the APC whose leaders embarked on visits to the governors to woo them to the party. The visits paid off today with the declaration of the governors for the APC.