President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday took a swipe at the main opposition, the All Progressives Congress and those who defected from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), describing it them as chameleonic, untrustworthy and retrogressive.
The President said this in Minna, the Niger State capital, at the North Central rally of the PDP, where he also deescribed the PDP as the only stable and democratic party in the country, he based this on the premises that the party was the only one that had not changed its name, colours, umbrella-logo or slogan, since the return to democratic rule, 15 years ago.
In an apparent reference to the opposition mega-party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), the President insisted that parties that change identities at will could not be trusted.
He said: “PDP is the only party that has not changed its name, logo, slogan or colours. Some parties change colours at will, they are chameleons and cannot be trusted. PDP can be trusted; we have a vision and a mission. If you have a vision, you will not be changing slogans, logos and colours everyday. PDP is still the dominant party in Nigeria.
“We still remain PDP, not like some parties that, today, they are a red party, tomorrow, they are a green party, next time, they are a blue party; they are chameleons, and cannot be trusted. PDP has its vision and mission; if you have a vision, you will not be changing name, slogan, logo and colour every day.”
This was even as the Deputy Governor of Nasarawa State, Mr. Lucas Dameshi, formally announced his return to the ruling party.
Dameshi, at the rally, put all insinuations and rumours to rest, declaring that as a prodigal child, he had returned home, back to the PDP fold, while regretting his sojourn in the APC, which he said, had ended.
Shouting the PDP slogan, Dameshi announced that he was not a visitor to the PDP; but rather, that he was “back home to stay.”
He added: “PDP is my original party. I have been in the party since 1998, though I went to APC for a brief stay. I’ve seen the difference and am back home for good.”
The Deputy Governor, who handed over his letter, renouncing his membership of the APC; gave the assurance that PDP would recover Nasarawa State, come 2015.
“No party can deliver Nigeria, apart from the PDP. We have come back from APC to PDP in Nasarawa State. In 2015, PDP will win Nasarawa completely,” he said.
Expressing disapproval at those that left the PDP, Jonathan referred to the defectors as retrogressive elements, adding that they were a problem to the PDP while in the party.
“Some people had been founding members of PDP, they had been in PDP for 14 years, they had been Ministers, Commissioners, Speakers, Governors, and had held various positions under the party, now they say they are decamping to another party because they say they need progress, that PDP is not good enough, this means that when they were in PDP, they were retrogressive elements, it means they were a problem to us in the party. Now that they have left, we will progress more; now, PDP will move faster and bigger. It is a party that will take Nigeria to development.”
Jonathan gave the assurance that the PDP would regain, recover and reconstruct the states it lost in 2015, adding that the North Central zone now belongs to the PDP, making reference to the huge support given to him in Kwara and Niger states during his recent visits.
“In PDP, there is no shaking, in the North Central states, there is no shaking. We will recover Kwara and Nasarawa states. We will regain, recover and reconstruct these states that we lost in 2015.”
In his address, the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, appealed to those who had defected from the PDP to return to the party, saying that PDP was waiting with open arms to welcome them back without discrimination.
“We are willing to welcome those who have defected back home and I can assure them that they will be treated equally. Please, come back home,” Mu’azu pleaded.
He directed the Niger State Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, as the leader of the then G7 Governors, to employ all means in persuading his colleagues to come back, stating that the party had been repositioned for the progress they sought.
“If the Niger State Governor, as the leader of the G7, and the Jigawa State Governor can remain in the party, it is because they saw the light at the end of the tunnel, and I thank them for seeing the light. But your job has not finished, you have to go back, and make your people see the light too and get them to come back home to PDP,” he stated.
Mu’azu said that the North Central zone was 100 per cent for PDP, and that the loyalty in the zone would continue to grow and wax stronger, declaring that PDP would regain all lost grounds.
“Nigerians are yet to see the greatest party in Africa; we have just started. The PDP is the most democratic party in Africa,” he asserted.
He emphasised that the PDP does not believe in automatic tickets, and would not give automatic tickets to anyone vying for any elective position. He called on those who intend to contest to go to their people and win their trust.
The North Central gathering, which flagged-off the party’s zonal rally for the country, was attended by the Vice President, Namadi Sambo, all the PDP governors, the Nasarawa and Taraba state deputy governors, Senate President David Mark, all senators and members of the House of Representatives from North Central states, some PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) members, and delegates from the zone.