PDP Governors Defend Zamfara Meeting, Accuse ADC of Politicising Insecurity

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum has defended its recent meeting held in Zamfara State, pushing back against criticism from the African Democratic Congress (ADC), which accused the PDP of playing politics in the wake of deadly attacks in the state.

On Sunday, the ADC condemned the PDP governors for holding what it called a political meeting in Zamfara just days after a series of killings by bandits. In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said:

“Instead of the governors to rally around their beleaguered colleague to help stop the orgy of killings, they chose to stage a political rally at the scene of mass murder, even if it meant trampling on the memory of the victims.
The photos of PDP governors in full ceremonial robes, grinning for the camera, is totally out of place in an environment that still reeks of so much blood and sorrow.”

The party also called on President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in Zamfara, accusing the PDP of being “solely driven by the quest for power” and lacking empathy.

In response, the Director General of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Emmanuel Agbo, described the ADC’s remarks as “irresponsible,” accusing the party of trying to make political capital out of a tragedy.

“Playing politics and trying to gain political capital with human lives isn’t our stock in trade as is characteristic of the ADC,” Agbo said in a statement.
“The Zamfara meeting was scheduled and not a spur-of-the-moment thing. ADC should have done better by empathising through a visit to the affected states than playing to the gallery.”

Agbo emphasized that the meeting was focused on serious national issues, especially the worsening security situation across the country.
“The forum particularly commends initiatives by the government of Zamfara State in significantly curbing insecurity within the state; but condemns the continued monstrous killings in Katsina, Plateau, Niger, and Benue states, and other parts of the country, and calls on the federal government to be more responsive to the lives and properties of the citizenry,” he said.

The PDP Governors also criticized the ADC for what they called a “sense of entitlement” and said the PDP had grown stronger since some of its members defected to the ADC.
“Since their exit, the PDP has become much more formidable, and focussed, with clear determination to have our eyes on the ball. The ADC before now, with their inordinate sense of entitlement, constituted a huge clog to the wheel of national unity and harmony.”

The Forum concluded that insecurity was a dominant issue during their deliberations and reiterated their concern for the lives and safety of Nigerians.
“That the ADC couldn’t see that much isn’t surprising,” the statement added, “as the prodigal son wasn’t known to have any pity on his father’s fortune.”