Senate President, David Mark and former governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, yesterday put paid to speculations that they were set to join the All Progressives Congress, APC. They affirmed their loyalty to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Mark said that he had no reason to jump ship.
According to him, “I will not leave the PDP. I will be the last man standing for the PDP. The party gave me the platform to be where I am today. I will stay in the PDP to contribute my quota to the rebuilding and restructuring of the party. This is democracy. Winners emerge and the losers go back to the drawing board and rejuvenate.”
He spoke at a special church service to mark his 67th birthday at St. Mulumba Catholic Chaplaincy, Apo in Abuja.
Mark described the outcome of the presidential election in favour of the APC “as the will of God and majority of Nigerians. We in the PDP have accepted the result in good faith. Those drifting to the APC now are fair weather friends of the PDP. They are seeking new green areas. When the PDP bounces back, they will seek another return to it.
“I believe in PDP manifestos. I will work hard to bring the party back on track. What is important is that we have established democracy in Nigeria,” he said.
In his remark, Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, praised Mark for the wisdom he had used to pilot the affairs of the National Assembly, adding that his (Mark) continued contributions to socioeconomic and political development of the country cannot be undermined.
Also, Senator Tunde Ogbeha prayed God to grant Mark good health, long life and courage in the years ahead.
Clerk to the National Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Maikasuwa, praised the Senate President for his resourceful leadership and harmonious working relationship with the management of NASS.
In his homily, the Parish Priest of St. Mulumba Catholic Chaplaincy, Rev. Fr. Innocent Jooji, noted that only God determines the destiny of all humans, pointing out that “whatever the future holds for each and everyone is determined by God, “we should continue to have faith in God.”
Bafarawa, who denied speculations that he was nursing the ambition to join the APC, insisted that he would remain in PDP despite the party losing the March 28 presidential election.
He told journalists at his Isah hometown in Sokoto that, “It was my decision that I decided to join the PDP and even if I chose to leave the party it is certainly not now.
Nigerian Pilot recalls that former Lagos State Governor, Ahmed Bola Tinubu and APC National Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun had told newsmen that Bafarawa was a stakeholder in the APC, who has contributed a lot for the formation of the party.
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We’ll rebuild PDP, say Mark, Bafarawa
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