Bayelsa PDP defectors dejected as Buhari, Osinbajo shun APC rally

The decision of President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and a host of other leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to shun Saturday’s rally organised by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) defectors in Bayelsa State has been hailed as a “wise and welcome” action.
The news of the disappointing development came as a surprise on Friday night, a huge frustration to the organisers.
But some watchers of political situation in the party believe it was a clever way of avoiding the leadership of the splinter PDP group because of its possible effect on the APC leadership in the South-South state.
In spite of the hype preceding the rally, there were reports of power struggle in the opposition party which had pitched the foundation leaders of the APC led by former governor, Timipre Sylva, with the new members who defected from the ruling PDP in the state over who gets the governorship slot ahead of the December 5 election.
In its reaction on Friday night, Bayelsa Youth for Good Governance, in a statement, said the decision by the president, his deputy and others to boycott the rally was “wise and welcome” because their presence will create bad blood in the APC, noting further that the “real intentions” of the defectors were well understood and acted accordingly.
The statement signed by its spokesman, Ebitari Samson-Igali, berated the defectors for its struggle for power in the APC, saying that the only reason the new members left the PDP was in the belief that they could hijack the party from Sylva and other foundation leaders and produce the governorship candidate for the governorship election.
“We have to applaud President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and other APC leaders for such a sound decision to shun the rally slated for tomorrow, otherwise it would have been a disaster for the APC. They were able to see through the deceit and mere grandstanding of the so-called PDP defectors who only joined the party to hijack the leadership for selfish reasons. Clearly, they are opportunists who have been engaging in a media frenzy to deceive everybody, a ploy to use the name of both President Buhari and that of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, to score cheap political points but it is gratifying to all concerned that they have failed woefully.
“Of course, this is an indication that the organisers of tomorrow’s rally are doing everything possible to keep the disappointing news of the vice president’s refusal to attend the rally from the public to avoid what is now a humiliation. But the news has spread like a wild fire throughout the state and especially in Yenagoa. It has shattered a decoy to reap from where they did not sow,” he stated.