Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, the 2023 Governorship candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in Gombe State, has officially defected to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Mailantarki, who resigned from the NNPP in July, chose not to join another party immediately until now.
At a reception in Gombe to welcome him and his supporters to the PDP, Mailantarki, a former member of the House of Representatives, explained that he joined the PDP with the aim of revitalizing the party and preparing it to unseat the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 elections.
He emphasized that the APC’s rule in the state, led by Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, has failed the people of Gombe.
He claimed that the APC government had “woefully failed” the state, attributing the failure to its inability to deliver good governance. “The APC has let the people down. It is time for a change, and PDP is the only viable opposition party capable of taking power from them,” Mailantarki declared.
Mailantarki also criticized Governor Yahaya’s administration for its “inhuman” policies, including the revocation of land titles and the daily biometric registration of civil servants.
He argued that the policies were unfair, especially given the current economic hardships in the state. “It is unfair to compel civil servants to go to work five times a week under the current economic hardship, without commensurate salary,” he said.
The State PDP chairman, Abnon Kwaskebe, welcomed Mailantarki’s defection, describing it as a major success for the party.
He assured that the PDP would provide a level playing field for all its members, ensuring fair participation as they work towards the 2027 elections.
In the 2023 General Elections, Mailantarki came third, following Muhammad Jibril Barde of the PDP and Governor Yahaya of the APC.
