PANDEF insist on restructuring of Nigeria, endorses Atiku

• Adamawa SDP adopts PDP candidate as APC guber aspirant dumps party
The Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has again, insisted that until Nigeria is restructured, the desired unity needed for building a strong and virile country would be elusive.

It condemned a situation where a section of the country continues to dominate the nation’s affairs, while other sections, especially the South-South, which produces the revenue that sustains Nigeria and the South- East remain constantly marginalised.

At a meeting of stakeholders and a special committee set up by PANDEF to embark on a sensitisation tour of the South-South in Warri, Delta State ahead of the elections, the group unanimously agreed that Nigeria was over due for restructuring.

National Secretary of PANDEF, Alfred Mulade, said the body had meetings with various ethnic groups in the country including the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Afenifere, Middle Belt and Northern Leaders Forum, and agreed that Atiku Abubakar was the best candidate to address the country’s challenges.

He said the group reached the consensus after reviewing all the candidates in the presidential race.

The meeting, which was chaired by former Minister of Police Affairs, Alowei Fredrick Bozimo, also had in attendance Professor G.G. Darah, Dr. I. C. Tolar, Patrick Orisbey and Emmanuel Okumagba, among others.

Also, the Adamawa State chapter of Social Democratic Party (SDP) has adopted former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, as the party’s candidate.

Speaking at a media briefing in Yola yesterday, SDP’s Legal Adviser, Danbaba Rugange, said the decision was based on Atiku’s administrative credentials.

Rugange pointed out that SDP is only interested in who will bring development and unite Nigerians and not party affiliation, noting that Atiku’s experience could not be compared with any of the presidential candidates.

Meanwhile, as Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel concluded his campaigns on Tuesday, an All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial aspirant, Dr. Edet Efretuei, has defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He explained that his decision to rejoin the PDP stemmed from how the APC schemed him out of the party primaries, stressing that it was deliberately using propaganda to confuse people not to vote for Emmanuel during the elections.

But APC’s governorship candidate, Obong Nsima Ekere, restated his plans to develop all parts of the state if elected governor, describing uneven and equal development as one of the best ways to end marginalisation.