Vice President Sambo Wants PDP Defectors To Return

Barely six months before the 2015 general elections, Nigeria’s  Vice-President, Alhaji  Namadi Sambo has called on aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that have defected to opposition parties to return to the party.

Sambo said this during PDP North-west zone stakeholders’ meeting held in Kaduna, northern Nigeria at the weekend.

The vice president said: “There is a popular adage which has it that even the teeth and the tongue do sometimes disagree. It should be acknowledged that there is no alternative to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). As the largest party in Africa, it is good enough to accommodate all and sundry.”

Meanwhile, in another statement released by Sambo’s spokesman, Umar Sani, the vice-president appraised the significant rise in PDP’s membership across country.

According to Sambo, “the PDP has been receiving mass decampees from the opposition swelling its membership across the nation.

“Prominent personalities from Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa and others states have joined our party along with their numerous supporters.

“This is a testimony of the acceptability of the party by greater majority of the people based on the party’s past and current performance.”

The vice president stated that the PDP is a party that thrives in the promotion of democracy, noting  that the stakeholders’ meeting was aimed at strategising ahead  of the 2015 general elections.

He said: “This zone (North-west), which is the largest in terms of number of states, has placed on our shoulder the challenge of holding regular meetings and consultations so as to remain ahead of others at all times.”

Sambo also charged members of the party to develop more concrete and pragmatic ways that would consolidate the strength of the Party.

He said the “Party  has made its mark and improved the lives and well-being of our citizens.”

Thisday online reports that meeting was attended by Governor Sa’du Dakingari of Kebbi State and his Kaduna State counterpart Ramalan Yero, the deputy governors of Sokoto, Jigawa and Katsina States, PDP senators from the zone, PDP members of House of Representatives from the zone, party stalwarts and several other dignitaries.

It would be recalled that no fewer than 1,000 members of the PDP recently decamped to the Labour Party (LP) in Ogun state.