By Umaru Mohammed,
Minna
The immediate past Governor of Niger state, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, has described the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state as a no match for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in both records and achievements.
Aliyu spoke at the inaugural meeting of the Servant Leadership Forum in Minna, the state capital.
He said that some APC chieftains had been lobbying him to join the ruling party.
Aliyu said that the dividends of the PDP’s eight years administration in the state would not be matched because no single Ward or across the entire 25 local government councils will say that they were not touched in any way.
According to Aliyu, “People have been telling us everywhere we go that the government of PDP is the best the country has ever had. Government is actually about security, development and the provision of basic amenities.”
The former governor, who said that he had not thought of leaving the PDP or ever nursing the ambition of joining the APC, added, “I am a die-hard PDP member who will remain in the party notwithstanding the challenges”.
“It is something of a pride to hear rumours that I have joined the APC. That means they are indirectly lobbying me to join APC. When I had the chance to join the APC I did not and I stand by my decision. I am not in APC and will not be in APC,” he said.
Aliyu explained that the Servant Leadership Forum was to mobilise for good governance in Niger State.
The former governor further disclosed: “I am not nursing an ambition to join APC. I am not a selfish politician. I remain a committed member of the PDP no matter how difficulties or hard it may be for the party now”.
Aliyu however disclosed: “Those who defected to the APC were paid to do so and by the time they could not get what they are looking for or being rewarded accordingly, they will leave the party or return to the PDP.
“We are not in government and we cannot pay money for people to come back to PDP. Those who have been paid to defect would return soon. If you see that something is wrong and you cannot wait to correct it and you keep running away, no matter where you go, you will continue to run”.
The Servant Leadership Forum, Babangida Aliyu said is a non-partisan forum that comprises of people who have served at various capacities from 2007 to 2015, stressing that the forum would position Niger State for trained, responsible and principled leadership.
Meanwhile, chairman of the PDP in Niger, Tanko Beji, has debunked claims by the ruling APC of having 34, 000 defectors joining its fold from PDP during last weekend’s rally for the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Abubarkar Sani Bello in 2019.
Beji said that members of the PDP that decamped couldn’t have been up to 34, 000 when the entire people present during the ‘Unity Rally’ which took place at the Trade Fair complex were not up to 10, 000.
“It is sad that those who joined the APC way back in 2015 and were unveiled at the Idris Legbo Kutigi international conference centre and Gidan Matasa over two years ago were still being paraded as new defectors, very funny indeed,” Beji said.
