Less than 24 hours after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), North-West zone, endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan to run for a second term, Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa state, has rejected the purported endorsement.
Governor Lamido, who described the endorsement as an unwholesome action, argued that it did not represent the collective opinion of the party members in the zone.
The PDP North-West zone had after a meeting in Kaduna on Sunday, issued a seven-page communiqué, read by Minister of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Aminu Wali, endorsing Jonathan as their candidate for the 2015 presidential election.
“Having carefully considered the steady and stable progress of our nation under the able leadership of Dr. Jonathan, the stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party in the Northwest, having in mind the monumental strides attained by this administration, have resolved to urge Dr. Jonathan to declare for president in the coming elections to continue the good work he has started. We ask for nothing less”, the communique read in part.
But the Jigawa State deputy governor, Alhaji Ahmad Mahmud, who spoke on behalf of the governor, revealed during a press conference held at his office in Dutse, the state capital on Monday that they were not part of the decision.
Governor Lamido, who was conspicuously absent at the PDP zonal meeting in which the party announced its resolution to endorse President Jonothan as its candidate, described the so-called party action as an act of embarrassment to the party members and democratic system.
He said: “The endorsement of Jonathan as the party’s presidential flagbearer is wrong and we hereby disassociate the government and the people of the state from such. We didn’t know the content of the communiqué read after yesterday’s (Sunday’s) PDP Northwest meeting in Kaduna.
“We in Jigawa were not part of the decision taken by the PDP to endorse President Goodluck Jonathan as its president in 2015, and this has clearly embarrassed us as PDP members as well as people of the state.
“We would not be blind-folded into such agreement in spite of our unprecedented support to our great party, the PDP, and its leadership, however the endorsement of Jonathan as the 2015 flagbearer is done without our consent and we would not support it.
The deputy governor maintained that the government and members of the party in the state remained loyal to the party.
“The Jigawa government and people remain loyal to the party and the country. We are still members and remain loyal to the party and country”, he said adding that “Everyone knows the role Governor Lamido and Jigawa State government have played. In 2011, we supported President Jonathan’s bid which caused the people to castigate us by way of calling us names, however, the president and federal government have not in any way redeemed their campaign promises to the people of the state, for which we see no reason whatsoever to support him again”.
However, when contacted, the National Vice Chairman of the PDP in the North-West zone, Ambassador Ibrahim Musa Kazaure, said that Governor Lamido as party member had a right to express his position on any party activity that did not go down well with his person or people.
Kazaure, an indigene of Jigawa State and a Lamido loyalist, said: “Any member has a right to express his opinion”.
=”left”>