A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Yahaya Kwande, on Tuesday caused a stir as he attended a rally of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) organised for former vice president Atiku Abubakar.
Mr Abubakar, a presidential aspirant of the PDP, was in Jos on Tuesday to lobby national delegates from the state ahead of the party’s presidential primaries.
Prior to Mr Abubakar’s visit, there were rumours that Mr Kwande would attend the meeting with Plateau State PDP members, even though he is a chieftain of APC .
Mr Kwande was given a microphone to speak on Mr Abubakar’s aspiration.
“I know you will be surprised to see me in the state PDP secretariat. I have never entered this secretariat but today I am in your midst. I have never stood where I am standing now. There is a reason for me being here.
“If today you I say I am not together with Atiku, you are already a mad man. I am fully with Atiku. My loyalty to Atiku is very certain. There are many people waiting for this day and the day has come. They were speculating that they will see whether I will welcome him.
“I have never found myself in this kind of politics. In the state, I have my son who is Lalong and father at the centre who is Atiku Abubakar. I would be afraid whenever Atiku will come
“In the whole of Nigeria, Atiku is the best person to lead the country. Let us support Atiku. Let us rally around him. We pray God should help Atiku win the 2019 presidential election. People should not be surprised to see that one day , I will personally bring Lalong before Atiku like I did it when you were in APC. People should not be surprised if myself and Lalong return to PDP.”
The APC chieftain, however, said he is still a member of APC because he is still holding APC card.
“As I am standing here, I am still a member of APC. I call on all of you to be patient. There would be special day for me to talk. It is not today, ” Mr Kwande said.
