Gov. Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa has described as untrue the media reports that Senate President Bukola Saraki and Gov. Aminu Tambuwal are negotiating to defect to People’s Democratic Party.
Badaru, who is the Chairman, 2018 Congresses and Convention Committee of All Progressives Congress (APC), debunked the reports when he fielded questions from State House correspondents in Abuja on Monday.
He said that similar fake story was circulated on Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue in the social media that the governor had concluded arrangements to quit the APC for PDP.
He, however, revealed that Ortom had since refuted the report during the last NEC meeting of the APC in Abuja
“It is not true that Tambuwal and Saraki are negotiating with the PDP, we have not heard of that. Some few weeks back there was rumour about the governor of Benue and he made it clear at our last NEC that he is not moving anywhere.
“Those are rumours flying around but they don’t have consequence.
“We are united. Governor Tambuwal is with us and the Distinguish Senator Bukola Saraki, the Senate President is also with APC and we have not had any reason to think that they are negotiating elsewhere, no,’’ he said.
Some traditional and social media outfits had on Monday reported that the Senate President Bukola Saraki and Gov. Aminu Tambuwa of Sokoto state, were being pressurized to return to the PDP.
The outfits quoted a top member of PDP National Executive Committee (NEC), as saying that both Saraki and Tambuwal were being “begged to return to their roots as part of a larger reconciliation policy in PDP’’
The report said: “The PDP is said to have also initiated talks with three APC governors in the northwest, which is the political base of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is said to have called on Senate President Bukola Saraki and Sokoto state governor Aminu Tambuwal, his predecessor, Senator Aliyu Wammako, former Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) and former Governor Danjuma Goje (Gombe) to return to its fold in order to wrest power from the All Progressives Congress (APC) next year.’’
On the forthcoming APC convention, Badaru expressed the hope that the exercise would go a long way in uniting members of the party.
“I am sure the convention will bring everybody together and in democracy if you are open and straight forward, things get done well, I don’t think there should be any problem,’’ he added.
The governor also dismissed the report that there was a case of political unrest in the state at the weekend, saying that what was witnessed at the Gumel rally was a normal political shunting between two contending groups at the rally.
