I’m not leaving APC with Atiku – Bindow assures Buhari

Adamawa State Governor, Jubrilla Bindow, on Tuesday assured President Muhammadu Buhari that he will not follow former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar

The meeting which was held inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja, barely four days after former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar resigned his membership of the ruling All Progressives Congress.

Atiku’s exit fuelled speculations that Bindow who is his state governor may also dump the party.

But the governor told State House correspondents after the meeting that he has no plan to leave with Atiku.

He also said Atiku’s defection could not affect the electoral fortune of the party in the state.

Mr. Bindow, widely seen as Mr. Atiku’s protégé, has been amongst the names of top APC defectors being bandied around in the political grapevine. His name has popped up alongside that of the Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan, who had since pledged loyalty to Mr. Atiku and his political choices.

Bindow, had previously declared his support for Mr. Abubakar whom he acknowledged as the sponsor of his governorship election.

The governor in December 2015 disclosed that Mr. Abubakar gave him N500 million for his campaign.

It will be recalled that the Kaduna sate governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has said all APC governors will not follow the footsteps of Atiku by leaving the party.

“That I am sure of. I can speak authoritatively about it because I’m in touch with my colleagues,” he noted.

“The only governor that he would think will go with him, the governor of Adamawa State has already endorsed President Buhari for the 2019 elections. And there are many governors, I will not mention the number but a majority of the APC governors have already taken the position that the president should run for a second term in office.”

Mr. Atiku, who was the vice president from 1999-2007, cited poor governance and the party’s shortcomings for his resignation from the ruling party.

He said APC had failed to deliver on its promises to Nigerians who have long been desperate for improved economic interventions.

Mr. Atiku, a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party, joined the APC in early 2014, barely a few months after the party was established to challenge the then-ruling APC.