Support Groups threaten to dump Atiku – Report

No fewer than 469 Atiku Support Groups have accused the Atiku Presidential Campaign Office (APCO) of neglect and threatened they would withdraw their support.

The groups which formed a coalition known as APCO support group warned the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against sabotaging the effort of the presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as they did to former President Goodluck Johnathan in 2015.

The convener of the group, Mr. Amb. Enobong Iyang, popularly known as Don P, threatened to withdraw their support for Atiku if urgent steps were not taken to address their grievances.

The leaders met in APCO office in Abuja on Tuesday and deliberated on many issues hindering the performance of support groups.

They said that the situation could affect Atiku’s outing in 2019 if not properly managed.

They accused APCO leadership of lackadaisical attitude and neglecting the effort of support groups despite all the resources spent and efforts made in promoting Atiku to the electorate in the last one year.

The groups claimed they had been using personal resources to mobilise support for Atiku across the 36 state.

They regretted that in spite of their efforts, no recognition was accorded to the groups.

They reported that prior to the Port Harcourt presidential primary election of the party, APCO had 860 support groups and the leadership set up a special committee of seventeen leaders known as L-17 to vet and trim the groups into a sizeable and manageable number.

The L-17 committee swung into action and eventually trimmed the number to 469 authenticated groups and submitted same to the leadership of APCO but nothing has been done.

Other prominent leaders of the groups include the National Coordinator of Atikudom 2019 , who is Ambassador Enobong Inyang.

Others are National Coordinator of Democracy Development Network, Mr Godwin Enemona; National Coordinator of Atiku Global Support Group (AGSG Alhaji Gambo Jagindi and Princess Kemi.

NAN