Former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar and the Imo State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, have attributed the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the courageous decision of the five former governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to dump their party and teem up with the opposition party.

Speaking during a special dinner held for the out going and incoming governors of the APC under the auspices of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), Atiku said the reasons why the five governors who joined the APC made victory possible for the party and ensured the defeat of PDP was due to their outstanding performances and the fact that they were close to the people.
He said the governors have made significant impact in governance and through their sacrifices made momentous contributions towards the victory of APC at the presidential election.

“This is why the people of their states love them and Nigerians  also love them. It is because of this that the exit of three of these governors from the PDP amongst others  and their joining of the APC contributed significantly to our victory in recent polls,” he said.

While addressing the gathering, Okorocha described the contributions of the out going governors, especially those that defected from the PDP as very key to the revolution that saw the historic victory of an opposition party over the ruling party in the country.

“Make no mistake about it, without the five governors that joined the APC in 2013, we will not here today. Anyone who understands the power and might of the federal government, especially under a vindictive leadership, knows the enormous risks taken by Governors Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Aliyu Magatarda Wammako, Abdulfatah Ahmed and the lion-heart Rotimi Amaechi. What happened to our colleague, Murtala Nyako could have happened to anyone of them,“ he said.

But the National Chairman of the APC, while commending the governors for their bold and courageous effort in working for the victory of the party, sounded a note of caution on the need for them to help safeguard the victory by ensuring good governance.

He said the party made a promise that there will be change and said the governors  are going to be the standard bearers of the change that the party is preaching.

Commenting on the outgoing governors, Oyegun said each of them  exceeded the standard benchmark of performance in governance.

“I  want to appeal to everyone here that we have scored a signal victory and that the way things are done henceforth must be different. The whole world will be watching us from Nay 29 when the reigns of power is handed over to us,” he said.

He urged the governor’s and party leaders to cautious of what they and be mindful of the expectations of Nigerians.

He said the victory of Buhari has already sent positive economic signals  by causing the rise in value of the Naira and also impacting positively on trading at the stock exchange market.

On his part the former governor of the old Abia State, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu expressed confidence that the party will not disappoint the people.

He said there was need for the re-tooling of the way the party operates because the way an opposition party function is different from that of a ruling party.
He also cautioned the party against allowing itself to be bogged down by the same ills that destroyed PDP.  “The expectations of Nigerians have never been so high, the people now expect a change in the manner governance has been operated,” he said.

Governors of Imo, Kwara,  and governors-elect of  Benue, Sokoto, Yari (Zamfara), Niger, Bauchi, Adamawa and Plateau were at the dinner, while the five former PDP governors were absent.