Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State has challenged the new chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who were in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before defecting to the APC, to resign their positions, the same way he and Rimi did in 1983, when they were leaving the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), for the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP) if they were truly men of honour.
The governor said it was morally wrong for them to keep the positions they were elected into on the platform of the PDP, and still be lampooning the same party, without relinquishing their positions.
He also said all former chieftains of the ruling PDP, who were now in the APC, were all “made and baked “by the party, and as such, could not acquire any new identity overnight.
Reacting to an enquiry from Daily Sun yesterday, shortly after the governorship campaign rally in the state, Lamido noted that it was unfortunate that the set of politicians and their supporters, all of whom had at one time or the other, benefited from the PDP as governors, ministers, ambassadors, parliamentarians and special advisers among others, have suddenly turned against the same party, that made them in the first place.
While likening their attitude to that of a child, who, after being catered for by the father, suddenly takes up arms against the same father over mere disagreement said: “The new slogan in town now is, ‘change’ and anybody that mouths that change automatically becomes a progressive. But these new progressive converts were part and parcel of the PDP until recently.
“They became what they are today by virtue of PDP. But today they have betrayed the party and they are calling the PDP all sorts of names. If the party is evil, how then did the evil not consume them while they remained members? They benefited from the same evil, when the party crushed others for them to be. All of them, who went through either the court or tribunal, knew what the PDP did for them. They all benefitted from the PDP.
“These are the same people who were with us in 2003, 2007 and 2011, and we all fought Buhari together.
But today, they have suddenly become Buhari’s loyalists.
“Everything they have so far listed as being evil in the PDP, which produced them, they have all benefitted from those evils. Therefore, If they are truly men of honour, as they want Nigerians to believe, then they should be courageous and honourable enough to do what Rimi and I did in 1983, when we were leaving the PRP, to the NPP, by resigning our various positions.”
“Rimi resigned his position as a governor then, and his deputy took over, while I also resigned my position, as a member of the House of Representatives. So, these same people should resign from the positions, which they won by virtue of being members of the PDP. For, they cannot hold on to the positions and privileges conferred on them by the PDP and still be abusing the same party,” Lamido, added. (Credit: The Sun)