Akwa Ibom Governor, Godswill Akpabio has stated that even if Governors of any state should defect from the Peoples Democratic Party to leading opposition party, All Progressives Congress, there would still be thousands of members in the State that are loyal to the ruling party.
Akpabio made the comments whilst addressing journalists at the end of a meeting with two defected Governors at the Presidential Villa.
Akpabio said, “I think the meeting we had was part of the dialogue Mr. President … months back at that time we had the G-7 governors. The last time we met, we met with the G-2 governors and today we had the G-3 and so it is part of the continuing dialogue to ensure harmony and peace in the party and Mr. President is not relenting.”
“He is very serious about consulting with all strata and all the bigwigs in the party, particularly the governors who are aggrieved, with a view to bringing everybody on board and ensuring harmony and unity of the party and the governors. I don’t think the issue of APC was discussed.”
Akpabio said: “Please, you have to distinguish the issue state-by-state. You have to take the issues state-by-state. I wasn’t here when the governor of Sokoto was talking to you and I know that the governor of Sokoto State is just one member of the PDP in Sokoto and if he says he is leaving the PDP, I am sure there are still thousands of other members of PDP who will say, ‘we are staying within the PDP’.
Governor Wammako of Sokoto state had earlier told journalists that there was no chance of the defected governors re-joining the PDP.
He said, “On behalf of the five of us, I have already briefed Mr. President; our position as G-5, that we are no longer in the PDP and that we are already in another party.”
“But as a President of this country, if he calls us, we will come and listen to him and respect him as a leader of our country; otherwise, what we had there was mostly a PDP affair.”