The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bauchi state says talks with the All Progressives Congress (APC) over a possible defection have collapsed following disagreement over a power-sharing arrangement.
There had been speculations that Bala Mohammed and his supporters were considering joining the APC amid the leadership crisis in the opposition party.
On April 1, Mohammed hosted Nentawe Yilwatda at the government house in Bauchi, fueling reports of an impending political realignment.
However, speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Sama’ila Burga, Bauchi PDP chairman, said the discussions have now been discontinued.
Burga said the APC rejected a proposed 60-40 power-sharing formula put forward by the PDP, which he described as a standard arrangement in similar political realignments.
“The conditions collectively advanced for such political realignment were not accepted by the APC,” he said.
“In the light of this, we want to announce that the discussion has not yielded a conclusive outcome and is hereby formally discontinued. The process has now been brought to a close.”
He said the PDP and the Bauchi governor participated in the talks in good faith, adding that the initiative for the discussions came from the APC.
Burga said the proposed arrangement would have ensured that the governor and his supporters retained some level of control within the party structure if the defection had gone through.
“It would be wrong for a governor coming with a government, from councillors to himself, without having any control of the party,” he said.
He added that similar arrangements, including 60-40 or even 70-30 formulas, have been adopted in other defections across the country.
Burga said with the breakdown of talks, the PDP and the Bauchi governor are now considering other political options.
