No fewer than 140 support groups have returned to the campaign team of the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Atiku Abubakar. They returned to the PDP after a sojourn in the All Progressives Congress (APC).
It would be recalled that last year, about 145 PDP Support groups withdrew their support for the Atiku campaign and moved to the APC on allegations of marginalisation, ingratitude and lack of support.
But the 140 groups under the aegis of the Coalition of Atikuate Leaders Forum, in a Press Conference on Monday at the PDP Presidential Campaign Headquarters, Legacy House, Abuja announced their return to the party.
They admitted they were aggrieved but stated that after reassurances from the Director General of Atiku Support Group, Nath Yaduma, they resolved to return and work for the successful election of Atiku.
The national coordinator of the group, Pastor Franklin Eze and National Secretary, Oyegoke Olawale, stressed that the coalition has resolved to put their grievances behind.
Olawale said: “We have come to state categorically that of the alleged 145 support groups, not less than 140 groups, as you can see, are still with His Excellency Atiku Abubakar except for ‘Atiku reloaded’ support group, led by El-Mikedo and a few others like him who have decided to reduce the nobility associated with politics and politicking into a bread and butter business.
“Therefore, let nobody use the names of our various groups to go about collecting money from APC as that amounts to impersonation, outright falsehood and political prostitution orchestrated on the altar of the spirit of Balaamism. That is the spirit of avarice and kleptomenia.”
The coalition explained that the ruling party and its government has no respect for democratic institutions and uses official institutions to its advantage.
“We cannot associate our groups to a government that have absolute and outright disregard for the rules of law that allows for a just and fair society, a government that has annexed the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) and the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) as an extension of her party.
“The All Progressive Congress (AFC); as evidenced by the brazen show of the appointment of Hajiya Amina Zakari as the INEC National Commissioner in charge of the election collation panel and the refusal to retire the 1GP Ibrahim ldris who have served out his constitutional tenure in office. All this scheming we perceive is in attempt to perpetrate their rigging agenda.
“Consequent upon the foregoing, we make it clear to the world that the about 140 Coalition of Atikulate Leaders Forum formally known as Coalition of All Aggrieved Atiku Support Groups (AASG) are still with His Excellency Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Waziri of Adamawa and His Excellency Peter Obi. We are still with the Peoples Democratic Patty ( PDP) and we shall keep Atukulating until we get Nigeria working again. This is to say that we have decided to vote Atiku and Obi for the 2019 presidential elections, and there is no turning back to our collective resolution” Eze stated.
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja