A Nigerian ambassador to South Africa has jumped ship, dumping the ruling party for the opposition party, PDP.
Ahmed Ibeto, a former deputy governor of Niger State, was appointed by President Buhari but now seems to have abandoned the President.
According to the Guardian, Mr. Ibeto asked to resign after he dropped his resignation letter at the foreign affairs ministry.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) also stated that the former Ambassador had joined them after leaving the APC
“The party has no doubts that Senator Saraki, Governor Ahmed and Alhaji Ibeto will contribute immensely to the new order that engender good governance in our nation,” PDP said in a statement by its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan.
Senate President Bukola Saraki and Govenror Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara also on Tuesday left the APC for the PDP.
The Ambassador used to be with the PDP before but left for the APC during the 2015 election period. Back then, he had said:
“it is right, we have decided to defect from the PDP to APC for obvious reasons.”
He added: “You know what happened in the state, there was a primary conducted by my former party, which was not actually in accordance with the rules and regulations of the party. We made our position very clear, hoping that the national secretariat would do something about it, but nothing was done.
“We believe there is no justice and fair play in the party, therefore, its no longer the party we can belong to.”
Perhaps Mr. Ibeto has similar sentiments towards the APC and that was possibly why he decided to go back to the PDP. The ruling party has been hit with a slew of defections in recent times which has plunged the party into crisis.
It is believed that Ibeto is seeking to make a bid for the governorship seat in Niger state, hence the defection from APC to PDP.