Gbenga Daniels says he has not joined APC yet pledging never to abandon Atiku

FORMER Ogun State governor Otunba Gbenga Daniels has promised that he will never abandon the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar despite his recent decision to resign from partisan politics.

Last week, Otunba Daniels announced that he had resigned from the PDP and quit partisan politics to focus on charitable events and good causes following the party's recent loss in the presidential election. However, a few days later, he said that his supporters were urging him to join the All Progressives Congress (APC), adding that he was considering the move.

This has attracted a lot of criticism as Otunba Daniels was the director-general of the Atiku Campaign Organisation and PDP supporters are perplexed that he could abandon the party so soon after the elections, especially as the result is still a subject of litigation. Former aviation minister Femi Fani-Kayode, said it was sad that Otunba Daniel decided to dump the opposition party before the conclusion of Atiku’s election petition.

He also accused Otunba Daniel of taking sides with President Muhammadu Buhari after Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was rigged out in the elections. Responding to this, Otunba Daniels said he had not abandoned the former vice-president and denied joining the APC, explaining that he told his followers to join any political party of their choice.

Otunba Daniels said: “I have not, will not and will never abandon Atiku Abubakar as Atiku is different from PDP. I have resigned from PDP and lost interest in partisan politics having put in about 20 years of my life in a thankless process.

“I will commit my God-given resources to help the less privileged through my foundation and will contribute sharing the body of knowledge through our not-for-profit political academy. I will continue to support the political process in a non partisan manner, so I am clear with my position, without any ambiguity. "

He added that there is no need to insinuate, speculate, extrapolate, anticipate or draw conclusions on his behalf. Otunba Daniels said he did not expect that such a simple personal decision can generate such national discourse as since he made his announcement, the phones have not stopped ringing.