After several weeks of rift with his deputy, Hon. Ahmed Musa Ibeto, over his defection to the All Progressives Congress from the Peoples Democratic Party, the Niger State Governor, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, on Wednesday broke the silence again on the issue.
Aliyu lambasted his deputy, saying he lacks morals.
The governor said this when he received the New Tradoc Commander, Major General Gabriel Abayomi, in the Government House, Minna.
He said there was an agreement that anyone who served as deputy governor will not be involved in the governorship race.
He added: “Ibeto has no moral justification to defect.
“If you remove morality from politics, believe me it will become a selfish thing.
“And the individuals will begin to think that politics is for their benefit and theirs only.
“My deputy, who was not in the Peoples Democratic Party by 1999, but in the All Peoples Party, lost elections and his father in-law helped him to come to the PDP and he was appointed Director of Protocol in 1999 cum 2003.
“In 2003, he was elected as a member of the House of Assembly under PDP.
“Then in 2007, people who elected him, maybe they were not satisfied with him, did not give him the seat for the second term.
“And then as events unfolded, he was asked to what till after the election so they may decide where to put him.
“The elected deputy governor at that time, ‘God killed him’ and my deputy was elected to take the position.
“He replaced him from 2007 till date 2015.
“We were told that there was an agreement that those who serve as deputy governor will not be in governorship race according to the zoning formula.
“I personally went to his house and advised him with the consultations I have made.
“I told him not to contest to avoid disgrace but he refused.
“He came out and lost in the primaries.
“The question I ask, which has to do with morality: after 16 years he has enjoyed PDP, he defected simply because he failed primary elections.
“How can you reconcile who benefited from the system for many years simply because he failed election he dumped the party?
“What message is he sending to other people and to the young ones that will come out in future?
“What moral justification has he to do that?”
Referring to the Rivers State Governor, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, who also defected to the APC, Aliyu said: “He was a speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly for eight years and he became governor for over seven years under PDP and just one day he decided to defect with all the apparatus of that party and still with the mandate of the party.
“When we say mandate, people select or elect people base on their preferences.
“So, if you want to leave the mandate that you have been given, it is automatically taken that you should leave it in total so that you can go and start afresh in another party.”
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