2019 presidency: Dankwambo suffers setback as campaign DG dumps PDP

Dankwambo

IN what may be described as a major setback to the presidential aspirations of Gombe State Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, his campaign Director General in the 2015 general elections, Senator Sa’idu Umar Kumo has announced his resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party declaring that he was forced out of the party by the Governor.

Senator Saidu Kumo who disclosed this to Journalists in Gombe during at a Press briefing on Monday said he is yet to join any other political party, stressing that he would take time to study the political terrain before making a decision.

The politician said that “I’m not declaring any political party for now. I want to take my time to study the political terrain before taking my decision. I will join my political friends so that we can come back to Gombe and see what we can start again.”

Saidu Kumo further said that it has become necessary to inform the general public as well as members of the party both within and outside the state of his decision to quit the PDP.

“The purpose of this press briefing is to inform the general public, especially members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Gombe State, North East political zone and Nigeria at large that today, 23 January 2018, I, Senator Saidu Umar Kumo, Garkuwan Gombe, cease to be a member of the PDP. I have withdrawn my membership,” he said.

He further disclosed his intention to inform the branch of the party at the ward and local government levels on his decision to leave the PDP, adding that his departure would create opportunities for others particularly in Gombe State who may assume his presence was a stumbling block to achieving their goals.

Saidu Kumo, however, blamed Governor Dankwambo for pushing him out of the PDP saying, “First of all, I’m no longer needed at the state level. The Governor does not need me in PDP again. I am not used to them again. They did everything humanly possible to push me out of the party. Being a politician, I better give way, so that those who think I’m a stumbling block can have their way,” he said.

He added that “it was former President Olusegun Obasanjo who turned the PDP into a parastatal in 2003 after he made Governor’s leaders of the party.”

“You can’t be anything without the approval of the Governor. I’m fed up with this one-way traffic in Gombe State,” Kumo lamented.

It would be recalled that Senator Kumo contested for the position of Deputy National Chairman, North of the PDP at the recently concluded national convention of the party and lost.

S-Davies Wande