Amaechi, others can’t win ward election – Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has said the Peoples Democratic Party is not missing any of its five governors who defected to the All Progressives Congress. He said some of the defected governors cannot win ward elections in their respective states.

Jonathan spoke  during the 65th National Executive Committee meeting of the ruling party in Abuja on Thursday.

The five governors  are Rotimi Amaechi(Rivers); Aliyu Wamakko(Sokoto); Rabiu Kwakwanso (Kano); Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); and Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara).

The Interim National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Lai Mohammed, and Adamawa State Governor, Murtala Nyako, however, dismissed Jonathan’s comment, saying, “They(President and the PDP) are reeling from the knockout that they suffered.”

The President said at the meeting which was not attended by 10 of the 18 PDP governors and former President Olusegun Obasanjo that even though there was apprehension when the five governors left, he still believed that the PDP was strong.

He explained that it was that belief that made him to direct   the then   national leadership of the party to organise zonal rallies to test   PDP’s popularity.

The President said, “I appreciate the governors. Though some people left us, we’re not noticing their absence.

“When some governors moved and some members of the National Assembly also moved, some people thought they would soon overrun the party, but when I looked across, from my vantage position, I didn’t really see the threat.

“I told the then national chairman (Bamanga Tukur) to let us organise national unity rallies to demonstrate our strength, so that people will know that   one or two persons leaving our fold is inconsequential.

“I’m not even sure they can win their wards in an election now, because some of those states are totally PDP states.

“When you leave and you think you would be leaving with the whole state, by the time you get there, you’ll discover that others stay back and are continuing with the PDP. Some of the governors are even afraid to conduct local government elections.”

Despite the defection, he said the PDP remained the dominant party that would “win elections, free and fair.”