Katsina: Former candidates and aspirants for the House of Assembly, Chairmanship, and Councilorship positions in the previous elections under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Katsina have dumped the party.
The contestants, numbering 287, took the decision to join the Coalition of Political Parties.
Speaking at a gathering in Katsina on Thursday, Malam Jamilu Yahaya, the Chairman of the House of Assembly Aspirants’ Forum, said the group’s desire to bring about positive change prompted its decision to join the coalition.
According to him, before 25 of them took such a decision, a series of meetings were held by the members, at the end of which they decided to dump PDP and join the coalition.
He explained that about 20 per cent of their members were still in PDP positions but assured them that they would also join before the forthcoming general elections.
Yahaya assured the coalition leadership that as new members, they would remain loyal and ready to join any political party the leadership resolved to be part of.
Also, the Chairman of the Local Government Chairmanship Aspirants’ Forum, Alhaji Yasir Ibrahim, said that betrayal and deceit in the PDP forced about 13 of them to leave the party.
He said, “We were called to contest for the position of local government chairmen, but unfortunately, a faction of the party deceived us.
“We struggled to obtain the expression of interest forms, but to our greatest surprise, our names were not submitted to the electoral body.”
He said the PDP is no longer an opposition party in the state, “hence our decision to join the coalition for a stronger opposition.”
The Chairman of the Councilors Aspirants’ Forum, Malam Aminu Yunusa, expressed the readiness of his members to work with the coalition towards salvaging the state and the country as a whole.
He added that before they decided to join the movement, he had to make sure that his members, numbering about 247, would be carried along in the new journey.
Two House of Assembly candidates under the PDP in the previous elections joined the coalition during the meeting.
Earlier, the leader of the coalition, Alhaji Mustapha Inuwa, expressed happiness with the new members’ decision and assured every member of equal treatment.
He advised coalition members to exercise patience, assuring them that stakeholders were working tirelessly to find them a political party to join.
Sen. Ahmed Babba-Kaita received the new members and said, “I know the value of the latest members and their struggle in the PDP before leaving.
“The party’s faction deceived the new members; therefore, their decision to join the coalition is greatly welcomed.
“The forthcoming general elections will be between the APC and the masses. It is not a hidden issue; nobody doubts that Nigerians suffer.”
