North West All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has said the defection of opposition parties’ members to its fold in the region confirmed that the party remains the traditional stronghold of the ruling party.
In a statement issued yesterday the North West APC Presidential Campaign Council spokesperson, Muhammad Shehu Molash, said the gale of defections to the APC has reinforced the party’s strength and outreach within the zone.
Molash said based on the current political developments in the North West zone, the APC presidential candidate, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, will win the February 25 presidential election.
He said, “The North West APC Presidential Campaign Council under the leadership of its zonal coordinator, Governor Bello Matawalle and his deputy Salihu received with excitement, the news of defections to its fold across the zone.
“It is gratifying to note that with a few days to the polls, the North West appreciates our party’s vision and mission for Nigerians. The gale of defections to the APC has reinforced the party’s strength and outreach within the zone.”
A few days ago, the APC gubernatorial candidate in Kaduna State received over 12,000 defectors, who included a former commissioner and some youth leaders in the local government. In the same way, the APC have been receiving decampees in various local governments across the state. The recent being that of the member representing Kachia constituency in the Kaduna State House of Assembly, who decamped to the APC from PDP along with his supporters.
“In Kebbi State, a former state auditor, former caretaker secretary, 15 party executives of the PDP and thousands of their supporters also decamped to the APC. They cited the various people’s oriented programmes put in place by the APC led administration and the party’s political stability as opposed to intra party crises in other parties, as the primary reason they left their former party to the APC,” he said.
He further said, ”Similarly, in Katsina State, the former director-general of the PDP’s gubernatorial candidate in 2019 alongside other political heavyweights and thousands of their supporters also decamped to our great party.
“In Zamfara State, thousands of opposition members are daily trooping into the APC, due to the weakness of the opposition in the state as well as Gov Matawalle’s dispute settlement mechanism, which placed every major stakeholder on the same page with him in the state.”