Defection report part of PDP propaganda — Niger APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Niger State has said that the purported defection of its members in Mashegu local government was part of the propaganda by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to win sympathy ahead of the 2019 general elections.

Daily Trust had reported that over 1000 APC members had joined the PDP in a ceremony in Mashegu local government.

The state party chairman, Engineer Mohammed Jibrin Imam, said the defectors couldn’t have been card carrying members of the APC.

Imam said PDP, which was “disgraced” out of power in 2015 after its “abysmal performance” over the last 16 years, did not have the clout to mobilize such a crowd.

He said it was on record that the PDP administration left a backlog of salary arrears, stressing that the APC administration had to pay the arrears of pension due to retirees of both the state and local governments on assumption of office.

He also said that the party had been able to endear itself to the people through various developmental projects within the last two years.

Imam said the PDP leadership in the state was uncomfortable with the many achievements the APC had been able to record within the last two years, adding that no amount of propaganda by the PDP would change the course of history which the APC is making through peopleoriented projects.

Imam boasted that PDP had no structure to challenge APC which has over 40,000 polling units executives that are highly mobilised to consolidate power in 2019.

While urging the opposition to be wary of wasting its resources for the forthcoming election, he claimed there is no alternative to the incumbent Governor Abubakar Sani Bello in any of the contending parties who will give the APC “sleepless nights”.