A former Plateau State Governor, Joshua Dariye, has explained why he
dumped the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the ruling All
Progressives Congress.
Mr. Dariye on Thursday left the PDP, on whose platform he was first
elected governor and then elected to the National Assembly to represent
Plateau Central senatorial district.
He is one of the former governors facing corruption charges, accused
of siphoning the state’s ecological fund to the tune of N1.16 billion.
In 2004, Mr. Dariye fled the United Kingdom where he was being tried for money laundering.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission first filed charges against Mr. Dariye in 2007. He pleaded not guilty.
For nine years, his trial was delayed until February 2015 when the
Supreme Court affirmed the competence of the Abuja court to try him.
In 2011, he defected from the PDP to Labour Party, where he contested the senatorial election.
When Mr. Dariye returned to the PDP in 2014, he explained that his
decision to rejoin the party was because he was a founding member.
He had then assured of his “loyalty” to the PDP at all times.
However, in his latest defection letter to the senate president, he
said, “after due consultations with my constituency, I write to notify
you of my intention to cross over from the PDP to the APC.
“My decision is informed by the protracted division at the national
level of the PDP that led to the massive movement of my supporters to
the APC.
“Arising from this, I therefore write to formally inform you of my
decision to go along with my supporters. I thank you for your
understanding.’”
Fielding questions later from journalists, Mr. Dariye said his decision to dump the PDP was informed by the crack in the party.
He added that most of his constituents had defected to the ruling APC
and that he wanted to be with his constituents for effective
representation.
“My people in the PDP have moved to the APC and there is no need to remain alone,” he said.
Mr. Dariye, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Procurement,
reiterated his commitment to serve the people of his constituency.
Despite his stated reason, Nigerians on social media have suggested
the Senator did cross-carpet on the hope he would be helped to avoid
conviction, being a member of the ruling party.