2015: PDP begs Lamido not to join APC

Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido
Emissaries from the Peoples Democratic Party
have appealed to the Governor of Jigawa State,
Sule Lamido, not to defect from the party to the
All Progressives Congress ahead of the 2015
general election.
The emissaries, which included the Chairman of
the Board of Trustees of the party, Tony Anenih,
and the Secretary, Walid Jubril, were said to
have prevailed on the aggrieved governor to
support the second term ambition of President
Goodluck Jonathan.
Lamido was said to be nursing presidential
ambition until the party’s National Executive
Committee endorsed President Jonathan as the
PDP sole candidate for its primary.
Before the PDP move, there had been
unconfirmed reports that Lamido was not happy
and that he could work for the opposition during
the presidential election.
But the emissaries, who were members of the
Interface Committee set up by the national
leadership of the party, were said to be surprised
when Lamido revealed his grievances to them.
The governor was said to have complained about
the refusal of the President to fulfill majority of
his campaign promises to the people of the
state.
“He didn’t hide his grievances as he told the
delegation that he and the people of the state
were not happy with the President,” a source
close to the party said.
Jubril, in a telephone interview with our
correspondent, confirmed the meeting with
Lamido and how he (the governor) complained
that the President didn’t fulfill his electoral
promises to the state.
The BoT secretary said, “We will address his
grievances. We will settle the issues he raised.
He complained that a lot of promises were made
by the President in 2011, which he said the
President failed to fulfill.
“We promised to address those issues, but we
also know that the President has done a lot for
the people of the state. So, we are addressing
the issues.
“We know that the governor will not defect to the
opposition political party as being envisaged by
some people. If he was going to defect, he would
have done that with the group of the then seven
aggrieved governors.”
Lamido and the Governor of Niger State,
Babangida Aliyu, were among the aggrieved
governors, but while five others left for the APC,
the two remained in the ruling party.