120 pro-Atiku groups defect to Jonathan’s camp

A total of 120 groups loyal to Atiku Abubakar, former vice president and former presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), have defected to the campaign team of President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Uche Secondius, deputy national chairman of PDP, received the groups at a reception organised at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, to herald their migration to the president’s camp.

Speaking on behalf of the groups, Peter Ogar, the national coordinator of Renaissance for Socio-political Transformation of Nigeria, said the groups were convinced that there was no viable alternative to Jonathan.

He added that the groups were decamping to PDP because the opposition party maltreated their political leader.

“After critical analysis of the various development programmes initiated by President Jonathan’s administration, it is clear that they surpassed all those executed by past administrations, put together,” he said.

“We have understood the event of December 10, 2014, wherein our able leader, the Turakin Adamawa, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, was, through a gang up, denied us and indeed Nigerians the chance to have a true option in the forthcoming presidential election.

“Accordingly, we had to take time to analyse the inner workings of the current administration under President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and came to the conclusion that outside the Turaki, there is no better candidate within any opposition political party, hence the need for a rethink and strategic political repositioning for the sake of destiny of our great country, Nigeria.”

In his welcome address, Secondius thanked the groups for making the move, saying  the opposition party does not mean well for the country.

“APC is out to spread falsehood,” he said.

“I saw a headline in the newspaper today saying that the federal government had contracted an Israeli company to jam the card readers. Can you imagine?”

Earlier on Monday, Jonathan had visited Atiku at his home in Yola, capital of Adamawa state, in a move believed to be in furtherance of efforts to win his support and that of his loyalists.

Although Atiku is rarely seen at APC presidential campaign rallies, he continues to pledge his loyalty and recently assured the opposition party that he remained “irrevocably committed” to its cause and would not leave for the PDP or any other party.