Adamawa's Governor Bindow not leaving APC with ex-VP

Adamawa State governor, Jibrilla Bindow, has dismissed claims that he is planning on leaving the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) with former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.

The governor gave this assurance while speaking to State House correspondents after a private meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday, November 28, 2017.

Governor Bindow, who is a known associate of Atiku, said he has no plan to leave the party with the former Vice President who resigned his party membership last week.

He said, "Let me talk about Atiku first before myself. The former vice president is more than matured enough to decide whatever he wants to decide for himself.

"As far as I am concerned, I am one of the founding fathers of APC. When I was in the senate, we were the ones, alongside the current Senate President that worked very hard to ensure that all members of the national assembly; that we agreed to move to APC, so, I cannot see any reason why, today, that the house I built, that I will leave. So I am in APC for the rest of my life, period."

Bindow also said he's not worried about the effect the Adamawa native's absence could have on the electoral fortune of the party in the state.

He said, "Well, APC is strong, we have 25 members in the state assembly, 23, in fact, 24 now because one of them have moved to the APC, so, 24 out of 25 members in the house of assembly are APC.

"The three senators from the state are APC, even the house of representatives including Adamu Kamale who recently moved to the APC. So we are strong and we will continue to be strong."

Despite his strong objection to following Atiku outside the door, Governor Bindow maintained that he respects the former Vice President.

"Waziri remains somebody I respect as a father, and the same with any other elder in the state," he said.

ALSO READ: 6 reasons Atiku dumped APC

Atiku's resignation

In a resignation letter signed by Atiku on Friday, November 24, he accused President Buhariof neglecting him and condemned the APC for "instituting a regime of a draconian clampdown on all forms of democracy".

In a reaction to his exit from the ruling party, the People's Democratic Party (PDP) urged him to return to the party where he served as the deputy to former President Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999 to 2007, and lost the primaries election to former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011.

While Atiku failed to mention which party he'll be joining, or whether he'll contest for the presidency in 2019, he's expected to pitch his tent with the PDP after a series of private meetings with the party's leadership.

Atiku's presidential ambition

Atiku has contested for the president's seat a number of times, losing to the late President Umaru Yar'Adua in the 2007 presidential election and losing in the primaries to eventual winners President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP and President Buhari of the APC in the 2011 and 2015 presidential elections respectively.

While speaking to State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday, Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai warned Atiku that no Nigerian can currently match President Buhari in popularity and contest against him in an election.