By Samuel Ogidan
President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday blasted the five state governors and others that defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying, “They cannot win even wards or local government elections.”
The five governors are Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso of Kano state, Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers, Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara, Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto and Murtala Nyako of Adamawa.
Speaking at the 65th National Executive Council meeting of the ruling Peoples Democray Party (PDP) at its national secretariat in Abuja, the president said though there were challenges in the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) that led to some of the governors leaving the party, the PDP did not notice their absence.
Jonathan further said the PDP was still the dominant party and would win free and fair in 2015, stressing that the governors under the platform of the party were doing well to the extent that it appeared as if they controlled the 36 states of the federation.
He argued that security challenges in the country were less in the PDP-controlled states, pointing out that the challenges of Boko Haram and other security issues would soon be history.
He revealed that federal government was doing something serious about the insurgency through the deployment of equipment, adding, “All what I can assure you is that those issues of equipment and other things, we are handling them. God willing these challenges of Boko Haram or other criminal elements will soon come to be history in this country.”
Appreciating the governors under the platform of the party, Jonathan said, “You know the Nigeria Governors Forum, there were some challenges that came up and PDP governors became very strong.
“Even though some people left us but we are not noticing their absence because of the leadership and commitment shown by Governor Godswill Akpabio, the chairman of PDP and Governor Jonah Jang, the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum and other members of the Governors Forum from the PDP.
“There was a time, especially when some of our governors for one reason or the other, moved and some members of the National Assembly also moved and people were feeling ‘oh, these people will overrun PDP.’ I told National Chairman that let us have zonal unity rally, let us demonstrate our strength so that they will know that one or two persons that left is inconsequential.
“Some of them I am not sure they can win their ward in an election now because some of those states are totally PDP states.”
Earlier, the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Ahmed Adamu Mu’azu, had lamented that “never in the history of Nigeria that the country has been so challenged by saboteurs,” adding that in the midst of this, the party “is undaunted and providing the dividend of democracy.”
