PDP welcomes Saraki believing that Tinubu, Amaechi, Rochas and Oshiomole too are unhappy with APC

PEOPLES Democratic Party (PDP) officials are celebrating the return of senate president Senator Bukola Saraki to their fold amid hopes that more All Progressives Congress (APC) officials will decamp if they can be guaranteed not to be persecuted for doing so.

Yesterday, Senator Saraki issued a statement revealing that he had finally left the APC and returned to the PDP which he departed from in 2014. Senator Saraki's decamping to the PDP follows on from that of 15 other APC senators, 37 members of the House of Representatives and Governors Samuel Ortom and Aminu Tambuwal of Benue and Sokoto states over the last week.

In his statement, Senator Saraki said: "This is not a decision that I have made lightly. If anything at all, I have tarried for so long and did all that was humanly possible, even in the face of great provocation, ridicule and flagrant persecution, to give opportunity for peace, reconciliation and harmonious existence.

"In retrospect, it is now evident that the PDP has learnt more from its defeat than the APC has learnt from its victory. The PDP that we return to is now a party that has learnt its lessons the hard way and has realised that no member of the party should be taken for granted, a party that has realised that inclusion, justice and equity are basic precondition for peace and a party that has realised that never again can the people of Nigeria be taken for granted."

Welcoming Senator Saraki back into the party, Reno Omokri, an aide to former president Dr Goodluck Jonathan, said other APC leaders like Asiwaju Tinubu and Adams Oshiomole would have left the party too were it not for fear of prosecution by the Economic Financial and Crimes Commission (EFCC) among other things. Writing on his Twitter Page Mr Omokri said Mr Oshiomhole will not dump the APC in order to remain relevance in the polity.

Mr Omokri added:“If not for shame Chibuike Amaechi would have defected to PDP and if not for fear of EFCC, Asiwaju Tinubu would have abandoned APC. If not for relevance, Oshiomole would have returned to the Labour Party and if not for desperation, Rochas Okorocha would have returned to Apga.”

In a statement on its official Twitter page, the PDP welcomed Senator Saraki back into the party, describing the APC as a failed and dysfunctional party. "The president of the senate Senator Bukola Saraki has also dumped the failed and dysfunctional APC and has returned to the PDP. We welcome him back home," the statement read.