by Oke Efagene

Nigeria President, Goodluck Jonathan has  shown his confidence in the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) despite the defection of some governors to the opposition party.

He said that the defection of 5 G-7 governors to the All Progressives Congress (APC), will not affect the PDP at all as he believes that the game of politics is dynamic.

According to him,  “A governor elected by the people must not see himself as a king who could lord himself over the electorate.”

Leadership reports:

The President stated this late Saturday in Paris in an interview he granted shortly before leaving Paris for Abuja at the close of a two-day summit on peace and security in Africa hosted by President Francois Hollande of France.

Specifically, Jonathan was reacting to the recent defection of some of the seven aggrieved governors of the PDP to the opposition, All Progressives Congress (APC).

The G7 governors are Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto).

Lamido and Aliyu had declared that they were not part of the announced merger of the group with the APC.

The president said while the PDP which remained a party to beat in the country would continue to pursue the paths of reconciliation, the action of the five governors would not hamper the success of PDP in future elections.

For the five governors who joined the APC, Jonathan said, “We want those governors to come back to PDP, but in an event where some of them feel that it is better outside, they can also go and try. If they are leaving, we will work harder to make sure that we get more supporters so that at the end of the day, that equilibrum will be maintained.

“But I still believe that in Nigeria today, PDP is still the party to beat. As they are leaving the ruling party to the opposition, there are other key political actors who are ready to come to PDP. At the appropriate time, we will also receive them.”

He added: “I was elected by Nigerians and I will not say because I am a President of Nigeria now, the 100 per cent of Nigeria are for me and when I am moving to the left or right I will be moving with the whole 100 per cent. Like the governor of a state, a faction of a state elected you by simple majority and you are declared as a governor. When you are moving you should know that you are an individual, not all your supporters will want to move with you. 

“They are not your employees, therefore, some of your supporters will stay. In some cases, the deputy governors in the States are saying that they are not ready to move. It will be an interesting thing, and I have said that let us see how it will play out. However, in politics any party will want everybody in its camp and in PDP we want everybody.”