By Ben Agande
Former chairman of the caretaker committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Ahmed Makarfi has said that the gale of defections from the APC to PDP by prominent members of the party was not unexpected because the APC has demonstrated that it has nothing to offer.

Makarfi

Makarfi had predicted while formally declaring his intention to seek the PDP’s ticket for the 2019 presidential election that many prominent members of the APC will leave the party because they have been sidelined.

Reacting to the defections of the president of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, the governors Sokoto and Benue states, Aminu Tambuwal and Samuel Ortom respectively, Makarfi told Vanguard that their return was expected.

He said it became ” obvious to a number of them that, that (APC) is no longer a platform for them” he said.

Makarfi had said in an interview with journalists in June that it was a matter of time before members of the APC began to come back to the PDP, predicting that as soon as the convention of the APC was over, the party will begin to witness mass defection.

He had said: “The APC was made up of different parties but they came together for the 2015 presidential election. I am sure we will come together. It may be an alliance, it can be anything and, when that is done, then you will see us wresting power from the APC. We don’t want power through illegitimate ways. We want to legitimately wrest power from the APC.

“Second, we are waiting for the windfall and the windfall we hope will come soon. We heard they are thinking of postponing their convention. They can postpone but it must certainly come. After all, the court says extension is illegal and, if you want to postpone now, you will be doing an act of illegality.

They would have made it easy for us because they will end up without a valid candidate whichever way they go, something must give. When we reap that windfall, we will see how strong we are and chart the way forward. We must also thank the APC because they have been working for us.

They have refused to govern well; they have been fighting one another. There are many things for which we can thank them. There is no way the executive and the legislature can work again as one. There is no way the party can be cohesive again. There are elements in government fighting one another and there is nobody to call them to order. We should not expend our energy when somebody is working for us” he had said.