The Zonal Secretary of the New Nigerian
Peoples Party, NNPP, and member of the presidential council of Senator Rabiu
Kwankwaso, Babayo Liman, alongside 17 local government executives, have
defected to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Yobe State.
Liman announced this at a media briefing
held at NUJ Secretariat in Damaturu.
The ex-zonal scribe told newsmen that he
was resigning his appointment and joining PDP in support of its presidential
candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
According to him, five national executives
of the NNPP have also defected to PDP in the northeast.
“Those who defected to PDP are: Alhaji
Shehu Barau, National treasurer from Bauchi; Hajiya Halima Tafawa Balewa,
National zonal women leader as well as public relations officer of the zone
under NNPP and Ibrahim Tal, the national zonal secretary of the party”, he
said.
Liman claimed that NNPP lacks a vibrant
party structure to confront the upcoming general elections as well as numerous
internal crises at state chapters of the party were some of the reasons leading
to his defection.
“NNPP has no structure at all. What are
they going to bring to Nigerians? The party (NNPP) had a problem in Bauchi
State which lasted for more than five months without resolution.
“So, if Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso cannot
resolve a problem in a particular party in five months, we see no reason why we
cannot defect from the party,” he said.
The new entrant expressed optimism that
when Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is elected as Nigeria’s next president, he will
assist in addressing the protracted insecurity bedevilling various parts of the
country.
Recall that Yobe State Governor Mai Mala
Buni had recently received dozens of defectors from opposition parties in the
state; notable among them were: NNPP gubernatorial aspirant Umar Ali; PDP
coordinator Yobe North, Hajiya Tasallah Mai Jama’a as well as NNPP’s House of
Representatives candidate for Bade/Jakusko Federal Constituency.