Six governors of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), have visited Zamfara State in an effort to persuade the state Governor, Bello Matawaller not to join the ruling All Progressives Congress.
The governors who visited Matawalle included, Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Nyesom Wike of Rivers, Bala Mohammed of Bauchi, Darius Ishaku of Taraba, Umar Fintiri of Adamawa and Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto, were in Government House Gusau on Wednesday.
The governors were reported to have spent several hours with Matawalle who was alleged to have concluded arrangements to defect to the APC.
The PDP Governors’ visit to Zamfara State followed a similar visit by three APC Governors – Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa), and Mai Mala Buni (Yobe), who also had a closed-door meeting with Matawalle.
During the visit, Wike expressed surprise about why members of the APC wanted Matawalle to join their party after the ruling party intimidated the Zamfara governor on several occasions.
“I can’t understand why a party which declared Zamfara a no-fly zone is coming to woo the governor,” he said.
He advised Matawalle not to lose sleep because of insecurity, noting that the situation has been in existence even before the governor took over the affairs of the state.
Governor Wike added that “The insecurity problem started before you became the governor, so, nobody can come and use insecurity to intimidate you.”
The Rivers Governor described the N50m donated by the APC Governors to the victims of the fire incident as a Greek gist, begged Matawalle not to receive the opposition again.
On his side, Matawalle expressed happiness with the PDP Governors’ visit, describing it as timely, following the Gusau market incident.
He said he was almost abandoned by the PDP governors, lamenting that, “a crying child abandoned by his mother is likely to take food from a street beggar.”
The Zamfara Governor recalled how close he was to Governor Aminu Tambuwa, whom he has a long history dating back to their times at the House of Representatives.
