Former Governor, Babangida Aliyu of Niger State has advised the leadership of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, against encouraging the return of members who had previously defected to other political parties.
Aliyu, who stated this at a PDP Consultative Conference, held on Wednesday in Abuja, described those who left the party as ‘nomadic politicians’ contributing to the PDP crisis.
He recalled that during the party’s national convention in Port Harcourt, a significant number of candidates who emerged were nomadic politicians.
The former governor urged the party hierarchy to learn from history. “Both the chairman and the chairman of governors’ forum have been very diplomatic and saying ‘come back, come back.
“No, you don’t invite nomadic politicians back to your party. These were people with a history of nomadism,” he said.
Aliyu attributed the party’s major problems, dating back to 2013 to 2014, to lack of discipline and the prioritisation of selfish interests over the collective good.
“We cannot keep on, knowing that the black sheep in the family keeps on destroying whatever we are building. And then you say, ‘come back’. In fact, the most shocking time period was 2019,” he stated.
The former governor stressed the need for rewarding party loyalists rather than those who frequently move from one party to another.
Aliyu reminded members that the PDP constitution clearly stipulated that defectors should “join the queue” upon return.
He urged the party to focus on fostering “real, principled politics,” even if it didn’t immediately translate into electoral victory.
