President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday dismissed the claim that he was supporting the gubernatorial ambition of a former Minister of Information in his cabinet, Labaran Maku, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Grand Alliance to pursue his governorship ambition.
Jonathan, who made his position known at the PDP presidential rally in Lafia, Nasarawa State, said such a support would amount to anti-party activity on his part.
He, therefore, disassociated himself from the claim, saying he could only express his support and solidarity for all PDP candidates in the February 14 and 28 general election.
He said: “And we are told and everybody spoke about that the former Minister of Information that is in another party and saying that it is the President who asked him to go to another party.
“Definitely I cannot play anti-party.
“PDP is my party and all those who want to help us should come to PDP and work for PDP, so that PDP will be in control of Nasarawa State, so that government of PDP in Nasarawa State and the Federal Government that will be in the hands of PDP can work together to move Nasarawa State forward,’’ declared Jonathan.
Also speaking in the same vein, the Senate President, David Mark, urged Maku to desist from dropping Jonathan’s name in his quest to achieve his political ambition.
Mark advised Maku to apologise to the PDP if he wanted to return to the party, saying that the PDP as an accommodating party would wholeheartedly accept him back.
He said: “I want to thank the Northern Deputy Director-General, Turaki, for the clarification, which I made also two days ago and thank Ahmadu Ali also for the emphasis.
“People of Nasarawa State don’t be deceived by any ungrateful son of yours, who goes round saying he is in another political party because Mr. President has put him there.
“That is absolute lie.
“You must never believe it.
“We said so few days ago and we are emphasising it again.
“And we want to emphasise it: President is body and soul of PDP.
“He can therefore not put somebody in another political party to be campaigning on behalf of another political party.
“How can you be in APGA and be campaigning for the PDP presidential candidate?
“Return to PDP with apology because before we even take him, he has to apologise to all the good people in PDP.”
The Director-General of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Senator Ahmadu Ali, had earlier described the affected gubernatorial candidate as a “dangerous boy”, who benefited from the PDP-led Federal Government only to defect to another party.
Ali noted that the action of the candidate was capable of denying PDP candidates in Nasarawa State some votes in the February 14 and 28 general elections.
He said: “We have a young man who from nowhere, was a Deputy Governor of this state for four years, from nowhere he was made a Minister at the federal level for six years, decided to leave the party to another party and keep telling lies that by being in that party, he is helping us.
“He is not.
“He is only going there to reduce our votes.
“He is a dangerous boy.
“We must make sure that now that he has shown his colour, he will continue failing for the rest of his life unless he retrieves his steps back to the elders like us and we will forgive him.”
Ali, therefore, charged the electorate in the state not to divide their votes, but rather they should all vote for Jonathan and other candidates of the party at both federal and state levels.
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