VOP: Amaechi, Others Deny Floating Of New Party

Many of the seven People’s Democratic Party, PDP, governors linked with moves to float a new party to be known as Voice of the People, VOP, have denied knowledge of such a move. Most of the governors expressed shock over the linkage of their names with the new association, insisting that it was the handiwork of detractors, aimed at distracting them, according to Vanguard.

Speaking through his Chief of Staff, Mr Tony Okocha, Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi described the reported formation of VOP as mere speculation, with four of his colleagues also saying the purported formation of VOP was the figment of their detractors’ imagination. Also reacting to the development, the Adamawa State Governor, Murtala Nyako, said the reported formation of VOP was news to him, as he read about it on the pages of newspapers. “The so-called formation of a new party by seven PDP governors, including Nyako, is news to us,” Nyako’s Director of Press and Public Affairs, Ahmed Sajoh, told Vanguard. He said Nyako was not even aware of the floating of VOP, as he would have spoken about it at a stakeholders’ forum he had with a cross section of the people of the state on Sunday in Yola. “Those who are linking Governor Nyako with the VOP are doing that deliberately to cause confusion and distraction from the real issues that should help the PDP out of self-inflicted problems.” On his part, Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko, said he was not going to leave the PDP for any other party, having laboured over the years to make it a strong party.

Reacting through his Special Adviser on Media, Abubakar Dangusa, Wamakko said it was uncharitable for his enemies to continue to cook up stories in the media just to blackmail him and cause unnecessary distraction in the polity. The Governor of Niger State, Dr. Muazu Aliyu Babangida, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Dandali Ndayebo, also described the purported quitting of PDP for another party as baseless and a calculated attempt by slanderous elements to further heat up the polity. Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfata Ahmed, denied knowledge of the formation of VOP, saying that as a loyal and committed member of the PDP he could not have veered off the radar to float another party. Also denying leaving the PDP for any other party, the governor of Kano State, Alhaji Musa Kwankwaso, said that it was unthinkable for him to leave the party he had worked tirelessly for many years, for an association. Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has denied knowledge of any application by the governors for the registration of VOP. The Commission said, yesterday, that it was not aware of any new party called Voice of the People, VOP, being floated by seven governors. The commission said the parties concerned were yet to contact INEC. Speaking to Vanguard in Abuja, Mr. Kayode Idowu, the Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, said there was no information whatsoever on VOP in INEC records at the moment.