By Adamu S. Ladan
A People’s Democratic Party (PDP) factional group had been to Katsina last Tuesday and played decampees drama.
Playing the drama at the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium in Katsina metropolis during a campaign rally organised for the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, Dino Melaye announced that the party had received 92,000 decampees from members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and other political parties in the state.
This according to him was made up of, 49, 000 APC members were from Katsina Zone, and 23,000 from Funtua zone and 19,000 from Daura Zone.
A certain Alhaji Yahaya Kwande, Alhaji Baba Yale Yaro and Alhaji Aminu Lawal Mani were said to have represented the decampees from Daura, Funtua and Katsina Zones respectively.
However, from the drama spearheaded by senator Lado led PDP faction, it was very clear that the whole scene was created to reenact the so called decamping of the former SSG, Mustafa Inuwa.
This was particularly because the PDP observed that the Mustafa ‘s defection had not made the waves and infact they expected even as they touted same product in every gathering the party staged in the north western region. Melaye only confirmed this when he said:
“But the most important decampees here today is the former Secretary to the Government of Katsina State under Governor Aminu Bello Masari.”
It could be recall that the Former Governor Shema led faction which controls 10 out the 14 members of the party’s State Working Committee as well as 19 out of the 34 local government party chairmen in the state boycotted the fiasco.
The PDP is however, not new in this game it had several times staged similar dramas elsewhere. If not for the phantom figure one would have waved the matter, but to save the gullible, the record must be put straight.
The PDP has become intimidated with massive turn out of people during the flag off of the APC campaign at Faskari and the recently conducted tour of Daura Senatorial zone of the state. They have become jittery as people from all walks of life irrespect of party affiliations defied the harmatan to receive the APC campaign train.
The party was further overawed by the defection of its members during the campaign tour particularly in Mashi and Kankia. In fact, the government House, Katsina has now become a mecca of sorts for decampees of various parties.
Unlike the PDP bizarre, APC had presented true, sound, decent and prominent politicians of Katsina State who have dumped the PDP and joined the APC in thousands.
Hence, the propaganda sturf becomes a face saving measure by the PDP to hook wink the credulous with the bunkum defection story.
Yes, we saw how the PDP hirelings were paid peanuts to pose as APC members in the circus show which ended up vandalising public and private properties as well as other attendant criminalities.
However, the PDP drama will soon fizzle into insignificance as the APC campaign train enters its second leg this Monday.
The people of Katsina state are indeed not in a hurry to forget the PDP’s sixteen years misrule where the gladiators played Robin Hood with the nation’s wealth.
Adamu S. Ladan
Member, media and publicity committee,
APC campaign council,
Katsina state
