Nigeria: Defection of G7 Govs - Hope Has Been Rekindled - Peterside

Lagos — YESTERDAY'S decamping of most G-7 governors and members of the new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) to the All Peoples Congress (APC) elicited mixed reactions in the polity.

Lagos-based lawyer, Professor Itse Sagay, said the movement of the G-7 governors to APC is not a loss to the PDP, adding that the movement of the rebel governors who are nursing a personal agenda, into APC may amount to inviting trouble into the APC.

Sagay also berated the northern governors, saying while the APC was preoccupied with salvaging Nigeria from years of misrule, the motive of the northern governors is principally for power to return to the north.

"Concerning the Northern governors decamping to the APC, I really don't think it is a loss to the PDP. If you look at these rebel governors, with the exclusion of Rotimi Amaechi, you will find out that their agenda is a very narrow agenda, a very personal one. And that agenda is for the North to produce the president so that a Northerner can control the Niger Delta oil and Lagos State VAT and so on.

In his own reaction, Bamidele Aturu said the primary motive of the gladiators in the present arrangement is to feather their nests and not to advance the cause of Nigerians.
The human rights activist said the movement of the rebel governors to the APC had proved to Nigerians that there is no clear-cut difference between the political parties in Nigeria.

They've taken a gamble - Babatope
Former Minister of Transport, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, wished the defectors luck, saying: "Now that they have announced it, I wish those from the PDP going to join the APC the very best of luck. They have taken a gamble and I hope they are ready to face the consequences of that gamble. No rebellion of any group within an established political party has ever succeeded either in Nigeria or even abroad.
"But in their case, well, they have taken a gamble and like I said they must face the consequence of that gamble. We have no fear about the APC because the APC is not yet a party. But we will remain with the Nigerian people, PDP will never desert the Nigerian people. So, we shall meet on the political battle field, that is why I said we wish them the best of luck."

Merger took Oni by surprise
For former governor of EkitiState, Segun Oni, who was with the nPDP, Vanguard gathered that the news of the merger came to him as a surprise.
A source close to him told Vanguard that "as it stands now, he got the news like every other person. He is studying the situation as events unfold and he will have to consult with his supporters at home before taking any decision.

It's better we know our enemies --Doherty
Coordinator of the PDP in the South-West, Mr Deji Doherty, said the defectors took an honourable decision.