Saturday 1 February 2014
President Goodluck Jonathan visited Adamawa State on Tuesday, the growing fame of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was well-discussed during his parley with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders in the state.
It was gathered that President Jonathan warned the PDP chieftains against allowing the APC which Governor Murtala Nyako joined to gain ground in the state.
Jonathan was in Yola to commission some projects at the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Base.
He allegedly told some PDP leaders when they met behind closed door at the party secretariat to work hard for the PDP to retain the state. The meeting allegedly delayed the departure of the president from Yola for about three hours with all the service chiefs and Governor Nyako waiting for him at the airport.
At the meeting were the deputy governor James Ngilari, PDP officials, Commodore Dan Suleiman (rtd), former PDP national chairman and now chairman of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Alhaji Hassan Adamu, and the acting governor of Taraba State Garba Umar.
A participant at the meeting said President Jonathan commended the PDP chiefs for holding the fort after the defection of the governor to the APC. “He warned them against any squabble which could cause disaffection as the 2015 election draws closer,” he said.
“President Jonathan asked us not to allow the APC gain ground in Adamawa State which he described as a PDP stronghold. He wants us to remain one and not to allow anything that could cause disaffection in the state. According to him, we need to work harder if we do not want the PDP to lose the state to the APC. We gave him the assurance that no stone would be left unturned to ensure that the state remains in our hands.”
Ironically at the official commissioning of the Air Force Comprehensive Secondary School, Yola, Governor Nyako told the president that Adamawa was his state and regretted that he was not given the usual warm reception because of the security challenges in the state. He assured the president that the next time he visited the state, he would be accorded the due reception.
