Jonathan bombs Tinubu, Fashola, says Ikimi’s defection, final blow to APC

L-R: Jonathan and Tinubu

President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday described the defection of a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tom IKmi, from All Progressives Congress to the Peoples Democratic Party as spelling the end of the APC.

He also vowed that the Peoples Democratic Party would win Edo and Rivers states in the 2015 and 2016 general and governorship elections in the two states.

President Jonathan spoke during the PDP South-South unity rally held at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin, the Edo State capital.

While welcoming Tom Ikimi and other former members of the APC, including national and state assembly members, back to the party, he stated that the defection from the APC to the PDP, led by Ikimi, meant that “the last oxygen has been removed.”

The president said, “We formally welcome Chief Tom Ikimi and others that have joined the PDP today. They have come back to their original party, a standing-stable party; a party that does not change. From the name to the motto, to the logo, everything is the same.

“They left because of some internal things that were not too good. Now, we have corrected all those things. Every party member is seated equally; no discrimination, no imposition. No godfather, no godmother.

“They have come to work with us and having listened to Chief Ikimi, their leaving the APC means that the last oxygen has been removed. So, Edo State will fall to PDP.

“For Rivers State, we know that the only party there is PDP; others exist only on sign boards. So, allow their signboards to stay. But we know the party that is controlling Rivers State.”

Present at the rally were the governors of Cross River, Delta, Bayelsa and Abia states.

Others were the Senate President, David Mark; Senator Udoma Egba, ministers from the South-South and top functionaries of the party.

Jonathan said, “For South-South, at the beginning of this democracy, on May 29, 1999, when I took the oath of office, as a deputy governor, the whole South-South was PDP; from Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, we were all PDP.

“But today, two states have ‘K’ legs. But from 2015 to 2016, we will get all our states back.”

He explained that the rally was not organised as a political campaign but as an avenue to unite members of the PDP from Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Rivers states ahead of the 2015 presidential elections and beyond.

He said, “We are here in Edo State for a unity rally, as the National Chairman has told you. We are not here for campaign yet; we will come back for a campaign. We are here for a unity rally because we must bring our party together, especially as elections are coming.

“This is South-South unity rally and I am happy that the South-South, from Cross River to Edo States, we are all here.”

Also speaking, the Vice President, Namadi Sambo, commended the party in the zone for being the first to endorse President Jonathan as its sole candidate for the 2015 presidential election.

While noting that the President had facilitated development to the states, he assured that the Federal Government would do more to develop the coastal areas in the zone.

In his remarks, the National Chairman of the party, Dr. Adamu Mu’azu, stated that the PDP would not reverse the endorsement of the president.

He said the party would remain united and focused towards winning next year’s election.

Mu’azu, who noted that the party was willing to accept more defectors, said that the PDP remained the destination for democracy in Nigeria.

The Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, commended the zone for making sacrifices for the unity of the country and being a strong ally of the North.

He called for the support of all Nigerians in the re-election bid of President Jonathan.