Mr. Akpabio asked the governors to respect the office of the president.
The Akwa Ibom State governor, Godswill Apkabio, has warned the seven aggrieved governors (G7) of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, not to leave the party; saying “if you have five persons moving away from PDP, you have 10-50 moving into PDP.”
Mr. Akpabio, who also doubles as the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, appealed to the governors to take advantage of their ongoing dialogue with President Goodluck Jonathan to resolve all their differences.
“In any rebellion, we can resolve it through dialogue and I think that that’s what the President is doing, that’s what the PDP leadership is out to do to see how it can dialogue and bring the situation to a close.
“But, you see, it all depends. But for me, I believe that you cannot be a good leader unless you’re a good follower and I believe also strongly that leadership comes from God. So the question of rebelling against leadership does not occur because if I rebel against the leadership at the federal level, I should expect somebody also to rebel against my leadership at the state level, may be from my own local government or thereabouts”
“And it is expected that as a governor state, I should respect the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. So it is not important who occupies the position. I think what is important is to give respect to the institution of the presidency in Nigeria. And that way, the international community can also respect Nigeria,” the governor said while addressing State House correspondents in Abuja.
The G7- governors of Niger (Babangida Aliyu), Kwara (Abdulfatah Ahmed), Sokoto (Aliyu Wamakko), Adamawa (Murtala Nyako), Jigawa (Sule Lamido), Kano (Musa Kwankwaso), and Rivers (Rotimi Amaechi) – are opposed to Bamanga Tukur as the national chairman of the PDP; and are also reportedly opposed to the planned re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. They are currently members of the Abubakar Baraje-led faction of the PDP and have been wooed by the All Progressives Congress to join the opposition party.
The Akwa Ibom governor, who noted that politicians were free to change their party if they desired, said the PDP remains the biggest party with the widest coverage.
“I don’t see a problem in the issues of certain politicians wanting to change party; it is a normal thing in politics that people move from one political party to the other. But what is important is that we move on and the country moves on.
“And as PDP is very big and robust enough, with its branches in 774 local government areas in Nigeria, if you have five persons moving away from PDP, you have 10-50 moving into PDP,” he said.
Responding to the question on whether Mr. Jonathan should back down from the dialogue process with the G7, Mr. Akpabio rejected the idea, but warned that the president’s humility should not be taken for granted.
“No, no, depends on what they are talking about. Dialogue can never be too much. We just believe strongly, here we have a very humble President and who is very patient, and I hope that we don’t take advantage of his patience to continue to waste his time and distract him.
“That’s why he urged not to be distracted and even for those of us who are observers, certainly there should be an end to the dialogue so that he can face the business of state,” he said.
“There is no price you cannot pay for peace and that’s why we all here. There is need for all to have peace and peace, we shall have and dialogue we shall have until success is achieved. But it is not something to worry about. It is just that it is over blown by the press,” he added.
Mr. Akpabio also noted that the PDP is big enough to handle its internal issues. He said the party is “the only political party in Nigeria that is not owned by any individual or not owned by certain group.”
“So, this party belongs to Nigerians. So, if one Nigerian leaves the part, another Nigerian comes, the party goes on. And I can tell the truth, the reality is that, even those of us who are leaders, we need to be careful because when we are saying that we are moving to another political party, our followers may not be going with us and vice versa,” he said.
The G7 governors are expected to hold what could be their last meeting with President Jonathan this week before they decide whether to leave the PDP or not.
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