President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP have launched a plan to lure prominent members of the country’s biggest opposition party, the APC, to work for Jonathan's re-election bid. As it is today, the APC is a big and growing threat to dominance of the PDP and with the right candidate the party will defeat Jonathan.
“Both the Presidency and national leadership of the PDP are going about and holding meetings with leaders of the APC. The belief is that those who are not happy with the developments in the opposition party may consider defection.
“The President’s Chief of Staff, the NSA and the PDP National Chairman are the major leaders of the mobilisation drive.”
A reliable source in the APC who preferred anonymity disclosed this to Punch authoritatively.
According to their investigation, loyalists to the President had been meeting with leaders of the APC known to be aggrieved with developments in the fast-growing opposition party.
It was learnt that President Jonathan and his men want to capitalise on the internal wrangling in the APC over an alleged plan to present a Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket for the 2015 election.
The party’s spokesman, Lai Mohammed, has refuted the claims, but its members insist that the hierarchy of the party are considering plans to field a former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) with another Muslim from the South-West as the party’s presidential candidates in 2015.
Reliable PDP sources told Punch that Jonathan’s close aides had been holding secret meetings with leaders of the APC who are aggrieved for one reason or the other, especially those who defected from the ruling party to the opposition party, to seek their return to the ruling party.
Five governors, 37 members of the House of Representatives and 12 senators on the platform of the PDP had defected to the opposition party in 2013. Several other national leaders of the ruling party, including ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, had also joined the defection train.
Recall that a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, who is aggrieved with the alleged plan by APC to field a Muslim/Muslim ticket, paid a visit to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday. Fani-Kayode is said to have held a closed-door meeting with Jonathan.
The PDP Chairman in Ogun State, Adebayo Dayo, confirmed that they are discussing with APC leaders and a few of their aggrieved members with a view of luring them.
“You will see what will happen in the next few weeks. We are meeting with APC members and I am sure PDP will become fuller,” he boasted.
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