The 2023 governorship candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in Gombe State, Khamisu Mailantarki, on Saturday, joined the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The move comes after Mailantarki resigned from NNPP in July this year, but didn’t immediately join another political party.
Speaking during his reception ceremony at the PDP secretariat in Gombe, Mailantarki said he joined PDP to help revitalise the party to unseat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state in 2027.
Mailantarki alleged that APC government at the federal and state levels has failed woefully in delivering good governance, opining that PDP was the only strong party capable of seizing power from the APC, hence his decision to join the party after quitting NNPP.
He berated the state governor, Inuwa Yahaya, over some of his administration’s uncompassionate policies such as revoking of land titles and compelling civil servants to undergo biometric registration everyday at their workplaces, failure of which they are not eligible for salary payment.
According to him, it was unfair to force workers to go to work five times a day under this period of economic hardship without commensurate salaries.
Also speaking, the state PDP chairman, Abnor Kwaskebe, who received the former governorship candidate, said his defection was a huge blessing for the party and promised all members a sense of belonging.
