Atiku speaks of massive defection from PDP

Former vice -presidents Atiku Abubakar has finally reacted to the Defetzions gale which recently hit the popular Democratic Party in the state of the Delta.

Recall that the Governor of the state of the Delta, the Sheriff Oborevwori, Wednesday, deserted from PDP, to the Party to Power, APC.

Likewise, the candidate vice -president of the PDP in the last elections, Ifeanyi Okowo has announced his defection at the APC on the same day.

Reacting, Atiku observed that “freedom of association and expression is not optional in a democracy”, stating that “they are fundamental rights.

“Next to these are the pillars of a right and functional democratic society: the people, the rule of law, the credible elections and responsibility. We have to minute any of these and the same democracy begins to crumble.

“As someone who keeps quickly to these values, I have no grudges against anyone for having exercised their right to political alignment. Defections, alliances and realignments are an integral part of democratic policy. We have already seen them and we will see them again”.

The former vice -president complained to the way some people have resorted to the insults because he recently visited the former president Muhammadu Buhari.

“We do not rewrite history: Buhari is not only a former leader, but a significant statesman in the Nigerian political landscape.

“During the merger of the 2013 opposition, the leaders of the time have consulted widely, including visits to Obasanjo and Babangida. So why is it now sacrilegious for me and other leaders to visit Buhari in Kaduna? If you really believe in the freedom of association, then you have to respect the rights of all the political actors to commit yourself, unjust from the party lines,” he said.

According to him, the next elections are “not APC against PDP, or LP against APC. They are the Nigerians against an administration that immersed the nation in an unspeakable suffering. The economy is in a free fall.

“Inflation is suffocating the masses. The works are disappearing. Youth responsibility is increasing at terrifying levels. The Nigerians are not only tired, they are angry and rightly.

“This moment concerns collective survival. The real enemy is not one other – it is the abysmal failure of the Tinubu administration. We must refuse any attempt to distract ourselves with ethnic, regional or religious feelings.

“These are manipulation tools, designed to divide and conquer, used by those with nothing else to offer”.