Wike’s visit: More parties to fuse into APC says Ganduje

The national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has said that some political parties are set to merge with the governing party soon.

Ganduje spoke to newsmen in the company of former Plateau state governor, Simon Lalong, in his office in Abuja.

This was coming on the heels of the courtesy visit by the former governor of Rivers State and minister-designate, Nyesome Wike and some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains from Rivers State on Tuesday.

The APC chairman said the visit of Wike was the beginning of better things to happen to the party’s membership drive under his leadership, which he said was in line with his inaugural acceptance speech on August 3rd of ensuring an increase in party’s membership.

When asked if Wike’s visit signalled his defection to APC, Ganudje said, “We did not discuss the issue of his coming to APC or not coming to APC,” adding that “that issue will arise later.”

He, however, said that the defection of the likes of Wike into the ruling party would be an added advantage to the party’s electoral fortune of APC in 2027.

Ganduje said: “It will certainly improve the chances of this our party, especially in 2027 and not only that we are coming out with a new blueprint to increase the followership of the party and this we include all strata of officials; those who are in APC and those who are in other political parties. I assure you very soon some of the political parties will even merge with the APC. We are doing that underground.

Shedding light on what transpired with the minister-designate, the APC chairman said, “You know Wiki is an honourable minister-designate so he came, we discussed because I was looking for him to congratulate him for that and also he came to congratulate me and we discussed that when he becomes minister fully he will work very hard to move the ministry he is giving forward and he is ready to cooperate.”

Earlier, minister-designate and Director-General of the defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council, Lalong who came on a courtesy visit to the chairman, expressed optimism in Ganduje’s ability to take the party to greater heights.

According to the former Plateau state governor, “Ganduje was governor, as the matter of fact when we look at his antecedents, we always say he is the longest experienced politician that we have within us. Because he was very long in civil service, he became permanent secretary, commissioner, longest-serving deputy governor and became governor.

“So with this kind of experience, what else do you need in party matters? So we have confidence in him as he is now here and it is not an issue of one man, anytime he has the opportunity he does a lot of consultation and we are always available. His colleagues who were Governors with him are always available for this kind of work. That is why we are rallying around to give him every help so that the party can also succeed.”