Aminu Tambuwal dumps APC, returns to PDP Thursday

Barring any last minute change of plans, TheNiche can authoritatively report that the Sokoto State governor, Waziri Aminu Tambuwal, will dump the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday, July 26.

Tambuwal, who is the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives dumped the then ruling PDP on which platform he won election into the House and also was elected Speaker on October 28, 2014 for the newly formed APC.

His defection then was announced in a short message he personally read at the end of the day’s plenary. With the support of the then governor of Sokoto State, Aliyu Wamakko, he joined the gubernatorial race and won on the platform of his new party.

But there have been reports lately that Tambuwal is dissatisfied with the turn out of events in the APC and is poised to return to the PDP tomorrow.

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Credible sources close to the governor told TheNiche that Tambuwal, who is presently in Abuja is expected back in Sokoto today (Wednesday) after perfecting arrangements for his defection. The announcement will be made in Sokoto.

Tambuwal’s defection, coming on the heels of the defection of 15 Senators and 37 House of Representatives members from the APC on Tuesday, adds to the regime of crisis, currently rocking the ruling party.

Aside Tambuwal, it is also expected that the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, governors Ahmed Abdulfatah of Kwara State, and Samuel Ortom of Benue State, are on their way out of the ruling party.

Ahead of the defections, Saraki, Tambuwal and some of the APC governors met with PDP leaders and were together at the burial of the mother of Abubakar Baraje, Chairman of the New Peoples Democratic Party (n-PDP) bloc that spearheaded the defection of six governors from the PDP to APC in 2013, ahead of the 2015 presidential election.

The anticipated defection of the APC bigwigs further depletes the ranks of the ruling party, already hit by the breakout of the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC) and the union of close to 40 political parties to form the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP).