Zamfara State Deputy Governor, Barrister Mahdi Aliyu Gusau has boasted that the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) was very much ready to battle the All Progressives Congress (APC ) in the 2023 general elections in the State.
The Deputy Governor said that he was the new PDP leader in the state, adding that he assumed that position since the defection of his boss, Governor Bello Mohammed Matawalle, and his supporters to the APC.
According to him, he had been preparing for the battle ahead, pointing out that his inspection of the party’s Secretariat formed his readiness to face the ruling party in the state.
He stressed that the new PDP secretariat had been put to order as part of his effort to ensure a total political showdown against APC come 2023 general elections.
“After the defection of Governor Matawalle, we got a befitting Secretariat of our party as the APC had hijacked all the PDP Secretariat and converted them to APC offices in the State,” he said.
The deputy governor lamented that he was being witch-hunted by the State House of Assembly and the Executive arm of the government for not defecting to the All Progressive Congress (APC)
with the State Governor, Hon. Bello Mohammed Matawalle.
He explained that during the time of former Governor of Sokoto State, Senator Magartakada Wamakko the same issue occurred but the then Governor ignored the party differences and both him and his deputy moved the State forward until the end of their tenure.
“So, what is wrong if Governor Matawalle would give me the chance to follow the party of my mind instead of making it compulsory for me to follow him to APC which is not in my political agenda.
“Even as a Deputy Governor of the State, the Governor has made me very redundant and irrelevant but that is not the democratic rule.
Our Source reports that the Zamfara State Urban and Regional Planning Board (ZUREPB) had earlier sent a “stop work” notice to the party’s secretariat.
However, the Deputy Governor said that the whole plan was to frustrate PDP in the State, saying that the battle line had been drawn between the APC and the PDP in the State.
Recalled that before Governor Bello Mohammed Matawalle and his cabinet members defected to APC, the Peoples Democratic Party maintained a secretariat along Gusau-Zaria bye pass, but when the Governor decamped, the secretariat was converted to the APC factional headquarters.
