Senator Ahmad Babba Kaita, representing Katsina North senatorial district in the current 9th National Assembly has officially dumped the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, for Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, citing the loss of credibility in Governor Aminu Bello Masari-led government in the state.
Senator Kaita’s Media Adviser, Mallam Abdulkadir Lawal, who disclosed this in a statement yesterday, said his decision to dump the ruling party was premised on the recent trend of activities in the state, including the governor’s refusal to conduct local government elections across the state for a long period.
He also cited the marginalisation of critical stakeholders’ by the state government and the state party leadership, as well as the failure of the government to uphold the basic foundation of democracy.
The statement read: “Today opens a fresh page in our match to genuinely entrench democracy and significantly affirm the very eloquent voice of the people on whose mandate we have served over the last four years.
“As a loyal party man and responsive democrat whose expansive support base in his constituency has remained pivotal to his passion for the reciprocal growth and development of his people, Distinguished Senator Ahmad Babba Kaita has followed the recent events in Katsina state with keen interest and deep concern.
Of notable implication among many of these numerous concerns is the gradual loss of credibility in Governor Masari-led’s administration, particularly in the avowed refusal to conduct local government elections across the state in time.
The willful refusal of the administration to uphold the basic foundation of democracy has also found expression in the marginalisation of critical stakeholders by the state government and the leadership of the party at the state level.
“The recent Congresses at the state and ward levels, with no identified genuine pro-government delegates are clearly a rape of grassroots politicians and genuine party foot-soldiers who were rigged out of the open contest. The total absence of a level playing field speaks volumes about an already orchestrated decline in anti-democratic principles and challenges every good conscience including ours. All politics is local.
“As an advocate of transparency, accountability and continuous entrenchment of popular will, Senator Kaita cannot afford to continue sharing the tent of undemocratic merchandise clearly being executed against his people by the state government and party leadership.”
“A clear stock-taking of where Katsina State stands today is already enough burden on good conscience. Our good people, in their millions, have excused deprivation, poverty and hunger for too long. They have endured the risk to their lives and well being imposed by the incapacity of the state government to tackle insecurity head-on. They have been denied enough, already by the state government.
“We cannot deny them their right of choice. The serial denial of the people’s mandate at the recent Congresses among other related developments has finally found expression in our answer to the clarion call of our people to vacate the APC following very wide consultations.“Senator Ahmad Babba Kaita is not a bandwagon politician. His exemplary and robust representation in the Nigerian Senate is to the admiration of all, and with significant, visible impacts in the areas of infrastructural and human capital development across the three Senatorial zones of the state. There is room to do more.
“The fresh page from the decision to join the Peoples’ Democratic Party represents the ideals of representativeness in the mandate, goodwill and an even more determined desire and opportunity to provide succour, comfort and the much-needed dividends of democracy to the people.”
Senator Kaita, who represents President Buhari’s senatorial district, was first elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress to the 8th Senate in 2018 to fill the vacuum in the senatorial zone, following the death of Senator Mustapha Bukar.
Kaita was re-elected again in 2019 after he defeated Usman Mani of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
