A member of the Federal House of Representatives representing Bebeji/Kiru federal constituency in Kano, hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin has said at least four governors from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are working underneath for the ruling All Progressives Congresses (APC) ahead of the 2019 election.
The lawmaker did not, however, disclose the identities of the undercover governors said to be in a “cross-party arrangement” with the APC.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, Jibrin said: “At the moment, not less than four to five PDP governors are working in a cross-party arrangement to support the APC in the next presidential election.”
He added that the ruling party is “not shaking” despite losing many of its key members in the last one week.
In the last week, APC has lost 46 members of the national assembly and three governors to PDP since with more lawmakers reportedly plotting to leave.
Mr Jibrin, however, informed that all measures are being taken to ensure its “strongholds remain intact.”
“If the APC were presenting another candidate other than President Muhammadu Buhari, I would have been a bit jittery about the defections but there is this consensus within the party with Buhari as our presidential candidate,” he said.
“Those people against Buhari in Nigeria are just a group of elites with no electoral value. And so in the next election is going to be between some sections of the elite versus the masses.”
The federal lawmaker also declared no Nigerian can match President Muhammadu Buhari’s electoral value saying the president has the “highest electoral value in the country and in entire Africa.”
Jibrin said Buhari’s ability to bring Nigeria out of economic recession last year is enough reason for him to seek re-election.
“When people say the economy is going down, I get surprised. What indices are they using to make their judgment?” he asked.
“The reality of the matter is that the capacity of Buhari setting up a crack team, giving power to the CBN and ministry of finance to battle the economic recession that would have brought Nigeria to ground zero is enough for Buhari to contest the next election.
“That was what former US president Barrack Obama did. He came when there was an economic crisis in America and within two years, he was able to bring the country back on board. That was what he used to get re-election,” he said.
Recall that the house had suspended Jibril in 2017 for 180 legislative days after he raised an alarm of alleged padding of the 2016 budget
He was later recalled from suspension by the house following a letter of apology which he is said to have written to the house.
