Start writing your handover notes, G7, Baraje group tell Jonathan

THE defunct Abubakar Kawu Baraje led splinter group of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP which prior to Tuesday had in its fold, the G7 governors, asked President Goodluck Jonathan to start writing his handover notes ahead of the 2015 Presidential election. According to the group in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, joining the All Progrsssive Congress, APC, the opposition party was now the majority party in the country while it said it tagged PDP as a minority party, adding, “In the circumstances, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan must now start writing his handover notes because his ambition to maouevre the party structures so as to get a third term in office in 2015 has suddenly collapsed. On dumping the PDP, Eze said, “Now, we have reached the stage that we can only say: “PDP, your sinking ship has been abandoned to you! You brought this misfortune upon yourself, now you must bear it alone!” “As for us, we are happy to belong to the APC, where our value is appreciated, where we are made to feel truly wanted, and where we can now join forces with like minds in our struggle to liberate Nigeria from PDP’s misrule, which is soon to end.” Recalling what happened on Tuesday at Kano Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja, Eze said, “Late this morning, at about 11:46, the National Chairman of the New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP), Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, formally announced the merger of the party with the All Progressives Congress (APC). The merger was contained in a communiqué which Alhaji Baraje read to journalists at the end of a meeting between the leadership of New PDP and that of the APC held at the Kano Governor’s Lodge in Abuja. The communiqué signed by Bisi Akande the APC National Chairman and Kawu Abubakar Baraje the National Chairman of NPDP reads, “A meeting of the leadership of All Progressives Congress, APC, and the new PDP met this morning at the residence of the Kano State Governor, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, in Abuja and after exhaustive deliberations the two parties agreed to merge in order to rescue our fledgling democracy and the nation. “With this development, the G7 Governors of New PDP, namely, Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), are now members of the APC. The merger thus shoots up the number of APC State Governors to 18 while PDP’s shrinks to 16, with All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Labour Party having one governor each. A similar permutation exists in the National Assembly where we now have the majority with PDP and its allies in minority.