The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum and Bauchi State Governor, Alhaji Bala Mohammed, has berated leaders of the party for defecting to a “party that has no office”

Speaking at the ongoing Consultative Conference of PDP Founding Fathers and Stakeholders in Abuja, Governor Mohammed also warned that it is not right for leaders of the PDP to claim membership of two parties.

He said it is also wrong to abandon a strong platform like the PDP for a coalition that does not have a solid foundation.

Recently, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Senate President David Mark left the party for the African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition.

Addressing the elders present, the Governor said: “PDP has history, a legacy, a structure everywhere and the governors are doing their best. But because we are being hunted and we know what we are going through, and it is not for us to be cowardly and be talking about it.

“Politics is local. Some may go due to certain reasons, certain permutations, calculations, but I think they will be proved wrong. Even our elders that have gone, we don’t want to diminish them; we don’t want to denigrate or abuse them.

“We are telling them with humility: come back. That’s what the National Chairman has said — come back. This is what you have built. Where there are governors, where there are senators, members of the Houses, speakers, offices, local government chairmen, you are going to a party that has no office. It’s a malady.

“Maybe in terms of their own calculation, they want to actualize their aspiration — to get tickets. But do you want to get a ticket and lose? So please, come back. You have no reason to go anywhere.”

Lamenting about the situation of some leaders in the party, he said: “We cannot take indiscipline to a level where it becomes contagious. If you are in PDP, you are in PDP. You cannot be in PDP and be in coalition with another party. We cannot do this. But you have all the time to decide. Coalition is an aberration, yes, I said it.

“You cannot belong to two places. You cannot be a man and a woman at the same time. Be who you will be. But we will still give you the opportunity to have a thought, because you are our leaders.

“But if you are going, don’t demarket us. Demarketing of the PDP is not fair. Most of you actualized your political aspirations through this party. Some of them left us and caused our loss in 2015, and yet we accommodated them. And they left and came back. Some of them became governors, and some of them took tickets, just sprayed. It is only in PDP that you get that.” (Daily Trust)