A group, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has advised the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar to consider throwing in the towel in order to avoid a shattering defeat at the polls on February 16.
The Buhari group gave this advice in reaction to the defection of four top notchers of the PDP to All Progressive Congress (APC).
The group recalled that Bauchi State PDP publicity secretary Yayanuwa Zainabari had confirmed the defection, describing it as “shocking and a big slap to the party ahead of the 2019 polls.”
The group said that the way and manner Atiku Abubakar, as well as his party PDP, are daily losing support from prominent members of the party to the ruling APC is absolutely alarming.
In a statement by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary, Cassidy Madueke, BMO said that even the party cannot deny that the loss of its Deputy Chairman, Babayo Garba Gamawa, amongst others, to the APC is massive.
“We have nothing but sympathy for Atiku at this time that he has lost some of his trusted supporters who have abandoned him to team up with President Buhari.
“Nothing could be more demoralising than losing the number two man of your party with few days to what is almost certain to be his last attempt to clinch a seat that he had coveted since the 1990s.
“Babayo Gamawa is not only PDP’s deputy National Chairman but also a member of the party’s Presidential Campaign Council from the same North-East geo-political zone as the former Vice President.
“So we at BMO believe that it may be ideal for the PDP candidate to pull out of the Presidential race to save himself from what is almost certain to be a crushing defeat that would end up demystifying him as a political force.”
The group also noted the defection of the former PDP National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu who is known in the opposition ranks as the ‘game changer’.
“If there is any defection that is bound to hit Atiku hard, it is that of the former Bauchi State governor whose election as the PDP chairman just before the 2015 election was a popular choice.
“Here is a man whose daughter is married to the former Vice President’s son but opted to ignore family ties to support President Buhari’s re-election bid because he clearly knows the difference between the two.
“If there are people who know Atiku well, Muazu certainly would be numbered among them and now that he has joined the governing party, there is no clearer message to undecided voters across the country that President Buhari is the better choice.
“With Mu’azu’s decision to dump PDP, it is safe to say that the little chance the PDP has to improve on the 86,085 votes it had in 2015 when APC polled 931,598 votes in one of the President’s traditional strongholds has virtually disappeared.”
BMO said that contrary to the impression created by PDP elements to water down their loss, none of the politicians who may have joined the ruling party to escape the glare of anti graft agencies would be spared if found to have pending corruption cases.
“This is in line with what President Buhari said in a recent interview with This Day’s Board of Editors that defection to the governing APC is not a blank amnesty from prosecution for anyone found to have breached public trust.”
