The Kaduna State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has stated that the party’s mass defection on Saturday was not caused by a leadership issue.
The PDP lost the majority of its stakeholders, including former Governor Mukhtar Yero, former Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi, and former Senator Shehu Sani, to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Saturday.
In an interview with News Central on Monday, Kaduna PDP Publicity Secretary Maria Dogo stated that greed and political significance led the defectors away from the party.
Her words are:
“Some of our members have defected to the APC because they no longer have relevance in their wards or constituencies, and they believe that if they return to the APC, they will be given a free ticket, which is exactly what is happening in Kaduna State.
“For example, in Jabba local government, the member representing Jabba in the House of Assembly was defeated in both the ward and local government congress. He felt dissatisfied, and he realized that if he ran again, he would not be chosen by the PDP.
So the only option is to switch to APC, because APC does not want to primary and only gives positions to those they choose. So he’s running to APC to grab his free ticket.
And the Kaura local government representative, who is a member of the Reps, came from the Labour Party and is now joining the APC because he believes it is the only way for it to become significant.
“And when you look at the other people, the second person, Amos Magaji, who came in through the window, I’ll call it through the window, since he didn’t win his election.
“He has not provided the rewards of democracy in his own constituency. He’s running away after two years. He believes that this is the only way he can join the APC and compete for other positions. So they’re all greedy. “They’re all about greed.”