Why I Joined PDP - Shekarau Reveals

The scramble to take advantage of the ongoing defection of prominent members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) has continued to gain momentum among displaced politicians across the nation.

 The latest in the attention-chasing adventure occurred on Monday with the former governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau declaring for the PDP at the Yar ‘Adua centre, Abuja. Shakarau, who formally announced his decision to join the ruling party, described the APC as a party without a structure.

Maintaining that the opposition could not be seen or touched, because it had lost its soul, the former Kano governor said he was leaving the APC because the party has become a political fraud.

In a swift reaction, however, the Interim National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, could only wish Shekarau well in his new marriage to the PDP. In a telephone chat with one of our correspondents on Monday, Mohammed simply said: “We wish Shakarau well in his new marriage.”

Challenging the leadership of the APC to produce the party’s constitution and manifesto, Shekarau boasted that no intimidation, blackmail, or character assassination would change his vision. He said, “Because some people wanted to pocket the party and that was why the constitution of the party had yet to see the light of the day.

“The soul of the APC is lost. It cannot be touched or seen. APC Constitution is a political fraud. There is no management at any level of APC. This is the issue we raised and this is what we challenged. “I did all I could do to salvage the APC with no results. I refused to keep quiet in the face of the shenanigan going on in the APC.

“Some people want to pocket the party when the constitution of the party cannot be found anywhere on the street of this country. We cannot see ourselves belonging to a platform where we have been made to pocket others.

“After six months, no structure was found anywhere, we cannot belong to such, where no caricature of management is found. We challenged the leadership of APC to tell us why the constitution and manifesto of the party is not found on the street of Nigeria.

“There is nowhere in the constitution of the APC that said X and Y are the leaders of the party. “Politics is not not only about contesting and winning elections neither is it about getting public offices alone, but a platform to get the people to participate in nation building. “As we are stepping into PDP, the party has made some amendments and has looked inward. We are solidly behind the leadership of the party.

We will contribute meaningfully to development of the country in general.” Shekarau said his decision to dump the APC for the PDP was jointly reached with his supporters in Kano and across the country.

Also speaking at the occasion, former Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, said the APC has become the old PDP. Bafarawa, who also defected to PDP a few days ago, said he and Shekarau were in the PDP to rebuild the ruling party