I am under pressure to join APC

Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State says he is under pressure from political stakeholders to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

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However, Mr Mutfwang, who spoke at an event on Saturday at the Banquet Hall of the Government House in Jos, vowed not to leave the PDP.

The governor, up for re-election in 2027, said only God and the people who voted him into office have the authority to determine his political allegiance.

“It is not a lie that they also put pressure on me. But I told them only two people would authorise me to change my party. One is the God of heaven, then the other is you, the people,” he said.

Turning to the audience, he asked: “Have you asked me to go anywhere?” The crowd responded with a resounding “No.”

His remarks come a few weeks after APC stakeholders in Plateau State publicly opposed reports that he was considering joining their party.

At a recent APC stakeholders’ meeting in Jos, members unanimously rejected a motion suggesting the governor’s possible admission into the party.

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The motion, moved by Festus Fuanter, former Deputy National Secretary of the APC, was put to a voice vote and overwhelmingly rejected.

“We don’t want anybody coming to our party. You do your thing, and we’ll do ours,” Mr Fuanter said at the meeting.

He added that the party was confident of its strength ahead of the 2027 elections and did not require support from outside.

Reacting to the rejection, Mr Mutfwang said those opposing his alleged defection were doing so out of fear.

“So those who are rejecting me for what I did not look for are doing a useless exercise. The truth is that 60 to 70 per cent of the people in the APC on the Plateau will be glad to have us in their party. They know I will not join them, and that is why they are angry and trying to twist it,” he said.

He said the matter was not one he intended to dwell on, adding: “It’s a story for another day.”

Since the 2023 general elections, the PDP has lost three governors elected on its platform to the ruling APC. They are Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta and Peter Mbah of Enugu.

Duoye Diri of Bayelsa has also resigned from the party and is believed to be heading to the ruling party.

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Mr Mutfwang’s comment will bring some respite for the leading opposition party, whose governors in Taraba, Zamfara and Osun had also been reported to be making moves to join the ruling party.

While Governors Ademola Adeleke of Osun and Dauda Lawal of Zamfara have refuted the reports, Agbo Kefas’s associates have recently organised public events across Taraba to seek support for the governor’s possible defection to the APC.