- They are on rescue mission – PDP
- No cause for alarm – Ruling party
Top shots of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Gombe State are decamping to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), raising apprehension in the political circle in the state.
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The latest is a philanthropist, astute politician and one-time gubernatorial aspirant, Dr Jamil Isyaku Gwamna, who dumped the party in Gombe State late last month.
The gale of defections from the ruling APC, mainly to the opposition PDP, was described by political observers as a repeat of the fate that befell PDP in 2019, which led to its defeat during the polls.
Unlike what obtains in other states where members of the opposition party are decamping to the ruling party, in Gombe it is the opposite, as the frontline members of the ruling APC are either resigning their membership or decamping to the opposition PDP.
Before the ‘political coup’ staged by APC in 2019, PDP had been the ruling party in Gombe since 2003 when then the governor, now Senator Muhammad Danjuma Goje, wrested power from the late Abubakar Habu Hashidu of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
Political pundits said all the recent decampees to the PDP played a critical role in bringing the government of Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya to power in 2019, but they are said to be teaming up in PDP to dislodge APC in the 2023 elections.
In their respective remarks after announcing their defection, all the defectors cited internal crisis and ‘lack of direction’ by the APC-led administration in the state as their reason for dumping it.
However, our correspondent gathered that some of the defectors have long-term political ambition to call the shot from Gombe Government House, while others want to contest other political offices, which apparently may not be possible under the APC due to the power of incumbency wielded by the governor.
They, therefore, felt that there was the need to move to a party that would give them a level playing ground and a chance to pursue their respective political ambitions.
A businessman, founder and former managing director and chief executive officer of Sun Trust Bank, Muhammad Jibril Barde, was the first to defect to the PDP.
Danbarde, as he is popularly called, was the first runner-up in the 2018 gubernatorial primary election that produced Governor Yahaya as APC’s candidate for the 2019 gubernatorial election.
After losing the primaries to Yahaya, nothing was heard of Barde, as he dissociated himself from the party and was never seen during the political activities that culminated in the overwhelming victory of the APC during the polls.
Prior to officially declaring for the PDP, the ruling APC moved its state secretariat from a property belonging to Barde to a building owned by Governor Yahaya.
His defection was, therefore, obviously, to wrest power from the incumbent governor and be the ‘number one’ citizen of the state, the observers posit.
Another politician who defected from APC to PDP is Mr. John Lazarus Yoriyo, who was a two-term deputy governor of the state during Goje’s administration between 2003 and 2011.
Alhaji Abdulkadir Hamma Saleh also returned to the PDP having left for APC in the buildup to the 2019 elections.
Hamma Saleh had contested and lost the gubernatorial primaries to Senator Usman Bayero Nafada, who equally lost to the incumbent governor at the general elections.
Abubakar Abubakar BD, a two-term member of the House of Representatives that represented Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye Federal Constituency, was a grassroots politician and a one-time special adviser and general manager of Gombe Line Transport Company during the administration of former Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo.
He left PDP for APC during the 2019 elections and played a role in the election that brought the incumbent government to power.
Dr Ahmed Mohammed Gana was the immediate past commissioner of health in the state. He was dropped during a minor cabinet reshuffle in 2021.
The medical doctor-cum-politician has a long-time ambition to represent the people of Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye at the National Assembly. He was believed to have returned to his former party, PDP, to contest for the seat again.
Similarly, Dr Jamil Isyaku Gwamna, a one-time gubernatorial candidate of the defunct ANPP in 2007 and governorship aspirant on the PDP in 2018, also resigned from the APC.
Sardaunan Gombe, as he is popularly called, had contested and lost the PDP’s gubernatorial primary election in 2018 to Senator Usman Bayero Nafada.
He defected to APC less than 24 hours after losing the primaries. He met other big shots in the APC and played a vital role in the campaign that culminated with the victory of Inuwa Yahaya in 2019.
He, however, parted ways with the governor shortly after he (Gov Yahaya) assumed office. There are speculations that the Sardaunan Gombe parted ways with the governor over his ambition to succeed him.
Other party big shots that ditched the APC include an ex-member of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Umaru Barambu, who represented Akko Federal Constituency, Dr. Danlami Arabs Rukejei and Reverend Jeremiah Gado among others.
Also, many party executives at the ward level and party members across the 11 LGAs of the state have been tendering their resignation from the APC almost on daily basis, over what they described as, “failure of the APC-led administration to reward their sacrifices.”
Our correspondent reports that all the politicians that have so far decamped to PDP from the ruling APC, have played a role in the emergence of the current administration.
Political observers in Gombe are of the view that they are ganging up in the PDP to have a repeat of 2019, when they ganged up under APC and successfully ended PDP’s 16 years rule in the state.
No cause for alarm – APC
Responding, the Publicity Secretary of APC in the state, Mr Moses Kyari, said politics is about interest and the decampees are free to join any political party of their choice.
He, however, debunked claims that people were leaving the party en masse, saying most of the high-profile politicians that decamped to PDP, left to realise their respective ambitions of contesting for political offices.
“If you look critically, most of the supposedly high-profile politicians that have defected have done so for either of these two reasons; for personal ambition to contest for an office or followed their political benefactors,” he said.
They are on rescue mission – PDP
On his part, the Publicity Secretary of PDP in the state, Murtala Usman Dukku, said the high profile politicians are on rescue mission.
“They are on a rescue mission to save the state from bad governance under Governor Inuwa Yahaya led APC-administration. In fact, not politicians alone, all patriotic indigenes and residents of Gombe State are not happy with the current administration, hence they are teaming up to sack the party,” he said.
