The 2023 governorship candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party in Gombe State, Khamisu Mailantarki, on Saturday, defected to the Peoples Democratic Party.
Mailantarki had three months resigned from the NNPP, but did not join another party.
While speaking at the party secretariat during his reception ceremony, Mailantarki explained that he joined the PDP to help enhance the party’s chances.
He said that his entry would help the main opposition party unseat the All Progressives Congress in the state in 2027.
He decried the unfavourable APC-led government policies at both federal and state levels, stressing that they have failed miserably in delivering good governance to the people of Nigeria.
According to him, “PDP is the only strong party capable of seizing power from the APC, which is the reason for my decision to join it after quitting the NNPP.”
While lambasting Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Yahaya, Mailantarki added that some of his administration’s uncompassionate policies, such as revoking land titles and compelling civil servants to undergo biometric registration every day at their workplaces, failure of which would render them ineligible for salary payment, were unacceptable.
The former gubernatorial candidate said that it was unfair to force workers to go to work five times a day during this period of economic hardship without a commensurate salary.
The PDP Gombe State chairman, Abner Kwaskebe, who received the governorship candidate, commended Mailantarki’s bold step.
He noted that Mailantarki’s defection is a huge success for the party and promised all members a level playing field.