*Atiku mature enough to decide for himself not for me – Governor
*Says North East solidly behind Buhari
By Kemi Kasumu, with Agency reports
Governor of Adamawa State, Alhaji Bindo Jibrilla, has said that he has no plan to toe the line of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar in dumping the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Jibrilla’s position, made known on Tuesday after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, came day after the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, declared that there was no APC governor that would move to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar whether they were loyal to him or not.
Governor Jibrilla had long been rumoured to be warming up to decamp to PDP in solidarity with Atiku, who had since the beginning of this administration been on the aggrieved side and had been giving the Muhammadu Buhari-led APC Federal Government a serious fight from within, although without a pinch on the effort of the President to reclaim the country from the hands of corrupt people of the past.
The Governor, on Tuesday, clearly came out to say that he would remain in the ruling party with his numerous followers and give the maximum support to the Buhari administration to succeed.
“The former Vice President is more than mature enough to decide whatever he wants to decide for himself.
“As far as I am concerned, I am one of the founding fathers of APC.
“When I was in the Senate, we were the ones, alongside the current Senate President that worked very hard to ensure that all members of the National Assembly; that we agreed to move to APC.
“So, I cannot see any reason why, today, that the House I built, that I will leave.
“So, I am in APC for the rest of my life, period.’’
According to Jibrilla, the entire North East remains solidly behind the President in view of the achievements of his government.
The governor explained that the resignation of Atiku would never affect the fortune of the APC in Adamawa.
“Well, APC is strong, we have 25 members in the state assembly. 23, in fact, 24 now because one of them have moved to the APC, so, 24 out of 25 members in the House of Assembly are APC.
“The three Senators from the state are APC, even the House of Representatives, including Adamu Kamale who recently moved to the APC.
“So we are strong and we will continue to be strong,’’ he added.
Atiku Abubakar, in a statement on Friday, announced his resignation from the APC.
