The ruling party said it is erroneous for the former Sokoto State governor to blame PDP’s woes on another party, stressing that the main opposition party is assailed by trust deficit.
APC National Secretary Senator Ajibola Basiru said the party would continue to enlarge its coast to accommodate defectors from opposition parties.
He said although the defections are painful to the PDP, the trend would continue because the main opposition party has failed to put its house in order.
Basiru, who reacted to Tambuwal’s remarks about the gale of defections pointed out that the former Sokoto State governor lacked a basic understanding of factors underlying the defections.
He said APC is waxing stronger because Nigerians believe in the fruits of Tinubu’s government’s bold reforms across sectors, adding that the Renewed Hope Agenda is being successfully implemented across the critical sectors.
Also, the National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said the defectors are fascinated by the achievements of the Tinubu administration.
He said in a statement in Abuja that chieftains who dumped PDP and others parties for APC merely exercised their freedom of association and assembly.
Many chieftains of the PDP, Labour Party and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) have defected to the APC in many states, including Kano, Kaduna, Enugu, Osun, Ebonyi, Delta and Katsina states.
In Kano, many opposition figures had defected to the APC, following aggressive mobilization.
At the weekend, thousands of opposition members who left their platforms for the ruling party were received in Kaduna by Governor Uba Sani.
Party insiders said PDP has been rattled by these defections, particularly the defection of notable federal lawmakers and other big wigs.
Tambuwal told reporters at the weekend that politicians who have conscience cannot defect to the ruling party.
The former House of Representatives Speaker spoke in Kaduna after the Northwest PDP National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.
He said the current economic situation in the country ought to make the membership of the APC unattractive, adding that politicians defecting from the PDP to the APC are “driven by stomach infrastructure.”
Tambuwal said: “People leave parties for certain reasons or for different reasons, but what I have been observing is that defections are not based on the interest of the people but based on stomach infrastructure.
“If you are talking about defecting in the interest of the people, I believe no one can go to the APC. If you are a politician with a conscience, with the current policies being driven by the government of the APC….
“The current economic doldrum caused by APC has driven Nigerians into hardship across the country, and with the dismal performance of the Tinubu administration, there is nothing attractive outside stomach infrastructure.”
However, Basiru, who described Tambuwal as an unserious politician, said it is curious that the former governor does not understand the motivation for dumping PDP by its big wigs.
He said Tambuwal is an inconsistent politician, adding that from his trajectory of politics, he has not shown a modicum of principle in politics.
Basiru added: “He has not shown, from his history of politics, that he is a politician of conscience. So, he is not capable of making any comment that any serious politician will take serious.
“The truth is that today, the party that is sought after by Nigerians is APC. It appears that Tambuwal and his co- travellers are in severe pain because they cannot understand how they have lost large number of followers in Kano, Enugu, Ebonyi, Delta, Osun.
“Any politician worth his salt will not want to associate with PDP that cannot settle its crisis in a peaceful and acceptable manner.”
Basiru pointed out that PDP is enmeshed in “acrimonious crises,” adding that the party cannot be a signpost for peace and development.
He said instead of taking an undeserved swipe at the APC, Tambuwal and his co-travellers in PDP should cover their faces in shame for their inability to run the affairs of their party.
Basiru said PDP is agonising over its loss at a time the APC is consolidating as the ruling party.
He stressed: “As of now, we are busy with governance, delivering the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and consolidating our dominance of the Southeast, as we are working hard to win the next Anambra governorship election.
“Our advice to them is to immediately collapse their dilapidated structure and find other job to do, apart from politicking. If they want to do politics, they should come and join the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ of President Tinubu. Otherwise, they should go and look for another job to do.”
Morka: he is a serial defector
Morka said Tambuwal who live in a glass house had thrown stones, adding that he is “a notorious and vainglorious party defector.”
The Publicity Secretary said “his comments more aptly characterised his own convoluted record of defections from the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) to the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) in 2007 and back to ANPP and then off to the PDP, and decamping in 2014 to APC and finally crawling back to PDP, ignominiously, in 2018.”
Morka added: “By his assertions, Tambuwal’s itinerant defections were in chase of “stomach infrastructure”, purely self-serving and without any conscience. A wandering politician like Tambuwal lacks the moral turpitude to comment on the intentions of politicians who have defected from a crisis-ridden PDP to our great Party.
“Contrary to Tambuwal’s jibe, members of the PDP are joining APC, ostensibly, to identify with President Bola Tinubu’s bold economic reform agenda in the face of growing and undeniable positive indications of a resurgent Nigeria. Many of the defectors have offered this as the raison d’etre for their defection, quite apart from the fact that the PDP is in a state of bedlam, and is now an unrecognizable shadow of its old self.
“Recently, for the first time in many years, on President Tinubu’s vigilant watch, the country has surpassed its Organisation of Petroluem Exporting Countries’ (OPEC’s) quota of 1.5 mbpd. This remarkable feat is attributable to a combination of factors, from vastly improved security to purpose-driven oil sector reforms.
“Similarly, the country has recorded consistent trade surpluses; increased Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs); high yielding stock market; enhanced foreign reserve and numerous other indices of a steadily rebounding economy.
“Instead of begrudging citizens for exercising their fundamental freedom of association, Tambuwal and fellow political villains, like former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, should accept responsibility for the political carnage in the PDP, apologize to their members and maintain a humble and penitent disposition going forward.”
PDP going down, says Etta
Former member of the APC National Working Committee (NWC) Chief Hillard Etta said Tambuwal’s lack of understanding about party building explains why PDP is consistently diminishing in strength.
‘Tambuwal is wrong’
Former National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Chekwas Okorie, said Tambuwal’s assessment of defections is wrong.
He said: “Reducing the current movement to the APC to stomach infrastructure smacks of political naivety. This is too pedestal for somebody of his standing.”
He stressed: “Before the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was defeated in 2015, it lost many of its leading lights to the then emerging mega party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).”
“The likes of Atiku Abubakar and Bukola Saraki left the PDP to join the APC. Can we say those calibres of politicians, known to be very wealthy, did so because of stomach infrastructure? That is why I say he is not reading the political barometer correctly. This development is normal in the Nigerian political space.
“As we speak, some politicians in the APC are planning to leave the party and are not hiding it. They include the likes of Lukman, Nasir el-Rufai and many others, especially from the Northwest, who have complained loudly that the APC betrayed their trust and that they would give President Bola Tinubu the Goodluck Jonathan treatment.
“What does that mean? It simply means they would also be moving out of the party, believing their action would bring it down. So, the movement is not one-sided; it is not just about PDP members joining the APC, members of the ruling party are also going elsewhere. This is because many political parties are eyeing a merger with others.”
