Quote:Abuja – After a brief foray in the All Progressives Congress (APC), 140 support groups, which had earlier withdrawn their support from the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, have returned to the party.

About 145 PDP Support groups had earlier abandoned their support for Atiku for the APC on allegations of marginalisation, ingratitude and lack of support.

Addressing newsmen on Monday at a World Press Conference in Abuja, the Coalition of Atikuate Leaders Forum, announced their return to the party and their collective resolve to end their support for the APC and its Presidential Candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari.

The groups explained that reassurances from the Director General of Atiku Support Group, Math Yeduma, made them to return and work for the successful election of Atiku Abubakar.

The Group’s National Coordinator, Pastor Franklin Eze, who spoke on their behalf, further explained that they have resolved to put their grievances behind.

He said: “We have come to state categorically that of the alleged 145 support groups, not less than 140 groups, as you can see, are still with His Excellency Alhaji Atiku Abubakar except for ‘Atiku reloaded’ support group, led by El-Mikedo and a few others like him who have decided to reduce the nobility associated with politics and politicking into a bread and butter business.

“Therefore, let nobody use the names of our various groups to go about collecting money from APC as that amounts to impersonation, outright falsehood and political prostitution orchestrated on the altar of the spirit of Balaamism. That is the spirit of avarice and kleptomenia.”

The group national coordinator added that the ruling party and its government has no respect for democratic institutions and uses official institutions to its advantage.

Eze said: “We cannot associate our groups to a government that have absolute and outright disregard for the rules of law that allows for a just and fair society, a government that has annexed the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as an extension of her party.

“The All Progressive Congress (AFC); as evidenced by the brazen show of the appointment of Hajiya Amina Zakari as the INEC National Commissioner in charge of the election collation panel and the refusal to retire the IGP Ibrahim ldris, who have served out his constitutional tenure in office. All this scheming we perceive is in attempt to perpetrate their rigging agenda.

“Consequent upon the foregoing, we make it clear to the world that the about 140 Coalition of Atikulate Leaders Forum formally known as Coalition of All Aggrieved Atiku Support Groups (AASG) are still with His Excellency Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Waziri of Adamawa and His Excellency Peter Obi.

“We are still with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and we shall keep Atikulating until we get Nigeria working again. This is to say that we have decided to vote Atiku and Obi for the 2019 presidential elections, and there is no turning back to our collective resolution.”