Former Governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed Makarfi, has appealed to the presidential candidates of Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi, and his New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, counterpart, Rabiu Kwankwaso to return to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Makarfi said Obi and Kwankwaso should swallow their personal ambitions and return to the party.
The former PDP National Chairman disclosed this on Channels Television’s breakfast show, Sunrise Daily on Tuesday.
Makarfi appealed to aggrieved PDP members to unite and discuss their differences in the country’s interest.
He said,“Peter Obi respects me; I respect him. Kwankwaso still is my friend, I respect him, but the issue is that we should all swallow personal ambition for the sake of this country and bring positive change by changing the government that is in power today.
“I call on other opposition parties to actually come together, especially Peter Obi.
“PDP will be home to him, PDP will be home to his supporters, and Kwankwaso, we all started PDP together; let us come back home and do the needful for the sake of this country.”
Reacting to Ibrahim Shekarau’s defection to the PDP, Makarfi said the former governor of Kano left NNPP because he is selfless and cares about his followers.
He said with this recent development, Atiku is ahead of every other candidates when it comes to securing the votes of the people in Kano.
“Shekarau left the NNPP not because his personal interest was not catered for but because the interest of his followers based on the agreement he had with NNPP was not catered for,” he said.
“So, you can see that it is about selfless service, about caring for those who follow him. He is in PDP purely because of the breach of trust where he was before.
“Kano is a very mature political environment. You can’t box them into one particular direction. They make choices of the options that are available.
“At a time, the kano voters voted for Abiola, a Muslim from the south, but the narrative there now is completely different. Things change over time. In terms of all indices, Atiku Abubakar is far ahead of the other aspirants that we have.”
NPO reported the defection of Shekarau from NNPP to PDP on Monday where he was officially received by the National Chairman of the party,Iyorchia Ayu, and Presidential Candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar in Kano.