Five months after dumping the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the former Governor of Kaduna State, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero has defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Yero, who was governor of the state from 2012 to 2015 under the platform of the PDP, was unseated by the immediate past governor of the state, Nasir El-Rufai, during the 2015 governorship elections held in the state.
Speaking on the development, Yero who stated that since the very day the announcement was made on his defection from the PDP, he had met and discussed with many political parties including the ruling APC.
He noted further; “Therefore, from today, being 12 February 2024, myself and representatives of other political associates have decided to join APC. After our decision, we met with the state governor and had a discussion with him. We told him that we accepted to join the party based on the invitation we received.”
The former governor of Kaduna state also appealed to his supporters to join him in the ruling party to contribute their quota towards advancing the state and nation forward.
In a swift reaction to the former governor’s defection to the APC, Kaduna State PDP Secretary Ibrahim Wosono revealed that Yero’s decision to join the APC didn’t come as a surprise.
Wosono said that the fortune of the PDP is not in any individual’s hands; therefore, the former governor’s defection to the ruling APC would not affect the party’s chances in the next general election.
He maintained; “He has the right specifically to defect from any party to another party, but if he can remember, he has been a commissioner under PDP platform, he has been a deputy governor under PDP, and also he has been a governor under PDP. The APC he has joined now is the same party that defeated him in the 2015 general election, and it’s the APC that took him to court and even to jail”.
The PDP chieftain disclosed that it’s the same APC that took Yero to EFCC, and the case is still ongoing.
“As a former governor, he has his own followers, but I will say that the fortune of PDP doesn’t rely on somebody’s hand. If you could remember, PDP has a history; Obasanjo left PDP, Atiku once left PDP, a lot of governors left PDP, and the party is still alive and strong.
“So the defection of Ramalan Yero, I don’t think will affect the fortune of PDP in the next coming election by God’s grace.” Wosono added.
