From: Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja

Governor Jubrilla Bindow of Adamawa State has said that he has no plans to join former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in quitting the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Governor Bindow stated this after meeting behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, at the Presidential Villa, in Abuja.

The governor told State House correspondents that he would remain in the ruling party.

He also said Atiku’s defection could not affect the electoral fortune of the part in the state.

The governor, who said he was in the Villa to brief President Buhari about the security situation in his state, added that Atiku is mature enough to take any political decision.

When asked if he was joining Atiku he said, “Let me talk about Atiku first before myself. The former vice president is more than matured enough to decide whatever he wants to decide for himself.

“As far as I am concerned, I am one of the founding fathers of APC. When I was in the Senate, we were the ones, alongside the current Senate President that worked very hard to ensure that all members of the National Assembly; that we agreed to move to APC, so, I cannot see any reason why, today, that the House I built, that I will leave. So I am in APC for the rest of my life, period.”

Asked about his personal relationship with the Waziri Adamawa, Governor Bindow said, “Not only Waziri, every elder in Adamawa State, as far as I am concerned, I regard them as my parents or elders. So, Waziri remains somebody I respect as a father, and the same with any other elder in the state.”

Asked to affirm his support for President Buhari as claimed by Governor, Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, he replied, “Yes, I was fortunate enough, very rare opportunity to be the first governor to do that for our president. As far as we, the people of the north east are concerned, we will remain loyal to our president who is highly committed to the fight against insurgency. We will remain loyal to our president.”

Asked if Atiku was on his own, he replied, “I have told you, he is more than matured enough. He is an eminent personality, a former vice president and so will be able to decide what he wants to do.”

The governor was also asked if Atiku;s rejection of the APC would affect the party in his state,  “Well, APC is strong, we have 25 members in the state assembly, 23, in fact, 24 now because one of them have moved to the APC, so, 24 out of 25 members in the House of Assembly are APC. The three Senators from the state are APC, even the House of Reps, including Adamu Kamale who recently moved to the APC. So we are strong and we will continue to be strong.”

The former Vice-President was one of those who contested for the party’s presidential ticket ahead of the 2015 general elections and lost to Buhari.

Atiku came distant third behind Buhari and a former Kano State Governor, Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso.

The Presidency has been diligence on  Atiku’s exit since the news broke on Friday.

Before making his position public on Friday, Atiku had  resigned from the APC since October 18, 2017.

In his resignation letter, the former Vice-President said he left the APC because he could not “reconcile” himself with the ruling party’s dismal performance.

The resignation letter was addressed to the ward chairman of the APC in Jada 1, Jada Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

The letter, which was titled ‘resignation,’ was received by Usman Muazu.

The letter dated October 18, 2017, read in part, “I wish to inform you of my decision to resign my membership of the All Progressives Congress in this ward with effect from the date of this letter.

“I’m resigning from a part we formed and worked so hard, with fellow compatriots across the country, to place in government.

“I had hope that the APC government would make improvements to the lives of our people and the continued existence and development of Nigeria as one indivisible nation. This hope has now been dashed.

“I’m unable to reconcile myself with the dismal performance of the party in government, especially in relation to the continued polarisation of our people along the ethnic and religious lines, which is threatening our unity more than any other time in the recent past, and the unbearable hardship that our people are currently undergoing.

“Let me emphasise again that this is not about me. We have to have a country before people can aspire to lead it.

“While wishing you well, let me express the hope that in the near future, a substantial number of you will join forces with us to, once again, defeat impunity, and restore vision and purpose to the politics of our great country.”