Rumours that the G-7 Governors are on the verge of dumping the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gained credence in the northern Nigerian city of Kano Thursday when Kwankwaso received a high-powered delegation of the All Progressive Congress (APC) who came to Kano primarily to encourage Kwankwaso and his group to join the party.<\/p>\n
The delegation led by General Muhammadu Buhari are on the mission to visit all aggrieved PDP governors and top politicians who are ready to join their train.<\/p>\n
The campaign which commenced from Kano will take the APC leaders to Jigawa and other fertile states that have lost touch with the style of politics and leadership in the PDP.<\/p>\n
The Interim National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande during the visit noted that, \u201cwe decided to come to you to solidarize with you because we know you are of great mind; and that is why some of you are being persecuted in your political party.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iin his words, \u201cwherever small minds are in sour, great minds are persecuted; so in recognition of this, in this wisdom, the leaders of the APC decided to come and lure you to join the progressive party.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are proud to showcase our own party, the APC as a platform and a soft-ground for great minds like you; and for that reason, we decided to come and let you know that we have plenty rooms in APC for great minds.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur coming to Kano has shown us the tremendous transformation that has taken place in Kano metropolis. These are the type of things we want governors of APC to be able to do just like the ones in Lagaos, Edo, Osun, Ekiti and everywhere\u2014and when we see such type of development in Kano, we are always proud of you. On behalf of my party, the APC, Mr. Governor, we are here as campaigners in politics which is not about individuals, it is about the unity and progress of Nigeria. We invite you to look favourably to our party.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also speaking, General Muhammadu Buhari, said, \u201cwe are in Kano to lure you into APC and we I am also here with my colleagues, and the governors from other states, to convince you firstly, that we feel very uncomfortable about Kano not coming along with us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are here on a tough and ruthless recruitment drive, we are people-oriented party and our concern is about our people and Nigeria. What APC is fundamentally going to do is to secure and effectively manage this country when we secure power.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buhari, however, said, \u201cI am very grateful to governor Kwankwaso for his courage, alertness and congratulate him for his luck, because not so many people get the opportunity to correct whatever mistake they think they have made, he was a governor, we voted him out, he quietly went to the Ministry of Defence, and came back and got elected. So, he is a very lucky person, it is not the red-cap that gave him the victory, it is his stars. So, our in our bid to get Kano back, we enjoin the governor to join us to deliver this country; and by the mercy of God, we shall succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Imo state Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha who spoke on behalf of the APC governors boasted that in 2015, \u201cvictory has been signed and sealed for the APC.<\/p>\n
\u201c We have come to invite you, our brother, into this movement. APC is not a political party, per se, it is a movement, a movement of change.\u00a0 We are people, carefully, selected by God. We\u2019ll assure you as our colleagues that governors in APC are accorded their due respect. I want to assure you that you are coming to a place you rightfully belong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kwankwaso, however, expressed surprise that APC leadership could send such a high-powered delegation to invite him into the party, adding\u00a0 that, \u201c we have listened to you very attentively; we have heard what you said and I feel elated that people of these caliber sat down and decided to visit us for this purpose\u2014this shows that we are important.<\/p>\n
\u201cImmediately you leave this place, I will sit down with the stakeholders because this party belongs to all of us. The Kwankwasiyya Movement is not a one-man show. No member of the Kwankwasiyya Movement does it alone. We are working as a team and this team is strong and capable enough to win elections in 2015. By the grace of God, our group will continue to grow from strength to strength.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are expecting me to say yes or no to your offer now, you will not get it because we have to sit down as one family and weigh the challenges; and at the end of the day, we will communicate you through General Buhari.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the APC leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in an interview with journalists after the event allayed the fear that the conspicuous absence of former Governor Ibrahim Shekarau to the event could mean that all was not well with APC in Kano, saying, \u201cI am not sure that he is available for this meeting, but there is no problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the APC bigwigs that visited Kano include Lagos state governor, Babatunde Rraji Fashola, Ekiti state governor, Kayode Fayemi, Imo stste governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nuhu Ribadu, Chief Bisi Akande, former Speaker of House of Representatives, Aminu Bello Masari, Senator George Akume, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, Lai Mohammed, General Muhammadu Buhari, former Deputy Governor, Kano state, Abdullahi Tijani Gwarzo, former lawmaker, Farouk Adamu Aliyu, former governor of Edo state, John Oyegu, former ANPP national chairman, Yusuf Ali, former labour Minister Musa Gwadabe, Kasim Imam, Senator Nazit and Senator Annie Okonkwo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rumours that the G-7 Governors are on the verge of dumping the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gained credence in the northern Nigerian city of Kano Thursday when Kwankwaso received a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n