From Ali Galadima,, Bauchi
It has been revealed that more prominent politicians in Bauchi state will soon dump the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the country in order to team up with the former Speaker of the House of Reps, Barrister Yakubu Dogara
This was d8sclosed by Senator Isah Mohammed Hamma Misau while fielding questions from a group of Journalists in Bauchi on Monday saying that their expectations of joining the PDP at the wake of the 2019 general elections have been dashed.
The former Senator who represented the Bauchi Central District declared that the contributions they made to the PDP that led to it winning the gubernatorial election has been thrown to the wind to the extent that they have been relegated to the background.
Misau alleged that as top members of the party and considering the sacrifice they made, they are not been carried along in the affairs of the party in the state adding that, “during the congresses of the party, our camp was not consulted neither were we allowed to make inputs in the exercise”.
He said, “our political mentor, former Speaker of House of Reps, Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara has left for the APC, we too are holding consultations with our supporters and by the grace of God in the next two weeks we are leaving the PDP. One of us, former Commissioner of Commerce left last week, this is to show that we are very serious “.
Reminded that he was appointed as Chairman of the recovery panel set up by the State Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir, he said that,” yes, I was appointed but of what benefit has it been to my supporters, none of our supporters have benefitted from that, and, you know that politics is all about benefit”.
On the party primaries of the PDP conducted last weekend preparatory to the local government elections, Isah Hamma Misau described it as very unfair because according to him, “it did not reflect the popular wish of the people and I am convinced that if the right thing was not done, people will vote out the PDP as was done to APC in 2019”.
But in a swift reaction, the State Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Yayanuwa Zainabari disclaimed the allegations by Hamma Misau as baseless and unfounded saying that, “what we did in the conduct of the primaries was to ensure that the people spoke and chose their preferred candidates, we are as transparent as possible”.
The PDP Spokesperson added, “when he and others came in to the PDP at the wake of 2019 general election, we gave them automatic tickets, that negatively affected us, we don’t want to repeat that, that is the reason we are meticulous now”.
On the plan of defection by the Isa Hamma Misau led group, the PDP Spokesperson said that, “we cannot stop anybody from leaving or coming, we have an opened door and people are free to move in and out but I want to assure you that the impact is going to be minimal because we have more people coming in to the PDP every day”.
Yayanuwa Zainabari then said that, “on behalf of the leadership of the PDP in Bauchi state, I wish Yakubu Dogara and others who left the PDP well in wherever they find themselves and we are ready to welcome them back if they decide to come back”.
He concluded that, “we have to join hands together as brothers and leaders who have development of Bauchi State at heart to work for its good. We cannot afford to let the people down”.
