The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prince Uche Secondus, has alleged that the leadership of the All Progressives Congress is giving false promises to some members of the opposition party to enable them to defect to the ruling party.
He also said the rumours, making the rounds that some highly-placed members of the opposition party were planning to defect were handiwork of the ruling party, insisting that such speculations were being orchestrated with the hope of destabilising the main opposition party.
He said in an interview that there had been many moves by the ruling party to woo members of the PDP into its fold, saying the purpose of the APC was to snatch the PDP members but later refuse to give them any meaningful role in the party in future.
His comments came amid rumours making the rounds that the APC was using the Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, who is also the Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee and Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, to get across to some influential PDP members.
Buni and Bello are said to be targeting the Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Uguwanyi; Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawale; Governor of Cross River State, Ben Ayade and the Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed.
A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told one of our correspondents that “Uguwanyi has been targeted (by the APC) but he is proving stubborn. Our aim is to ensure that we have at least three South-East states out of the five ahead of the 2023 elections. If we cannot get Ugwuanyi, we will ensure that we win the Anambra governorship election which comes up later in the year.”
It was also gathered that the leadership of the APC in Zamfara State was already favourably disposed to acceptance of Matawale, adding that this was why a former governor of the state, Senator Ahmed Yerima, publicly accepted that the governor would defect.
An APC source said the governor of Bauchi State might join the APC, insisting that Mohammed had already begun taking what he called pro-APC positions on several matters.
“Bala Mohammed is also seeking a second term. His recent statements on herdsmen and his refusal to blame the Federal Government are due to his relationship with the Presidency. We have made frantic efforts to keep him in the party but it seems he may have made up his mind,” the APC source said.