The senator representing Borno South senatorial district in the National Assembly, Sen. Ali Ndume, has said that the politicians that defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to other parties need President Muhammadu Buhari more than the president needs them.
Ndume, the immediate-past Senate Leader, made this known in an interview published by Vanguard on Monday.
The senator described the defections from the party as normal as the nation approaches a general election in 2019, adding that the spate of defections would not jeopardise the party’s chances during the election.
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Ndume, who said he would never leave the APC, said, “I am a permanent member of APC, I cannot move to PDP and I cannot abandon President Muhammadu Buhari for personal reasons because he is my mentor.
“Even the last time when I strayed into PDP or I went on sabbatical leave to PDP, I had a strong discussion with him, not with his approval, but he was quite aware.
“So we are on course, the challenge is common and surmountable and those that left need President Buhari more than he needs them, everybody knows that.
“None of them can say that he has gone away and that the fortune of APC will not affect him. We wish them well and as it is rightly said, some have already said no, it is better to be where I am than to go to somewhere I don’t know, it is better to be in a particular place than to embark on a journey with no destination.”
Ndume added that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which many politicians recently defected to, is gradually becoming a taboo in the north and only exists in the South South and South East geopolitical zones.
He said, “When you talk about PDP it only exists in two geopolitical zones, South South and South East.
“So no matter how the movement is when you have six geopolitical zones and you only have two and in most areas in the north PDP is virtually becoming something like a taboo.
“I can speak for my state authoritatively; you cannot fly the flag of PDP and get anything, all those that are in PDP are there to fill the statutory gaps so that you have chairman of the party, secretary of the party and all the others in name, but not to win election in the north east for example.”