Nigeria (Kaduna State) Deputy Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Mukhtar Shagari, said on Wednesday in Kaduna that despite the lingering crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party, which forced the defection of  his boss, Aliyu Wamakko to the All Progressives Congress, the PDP still remained the party to beat in 2015.

Governor Wamakko, along with Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) defected to the APC.

Shagari dissociated himself from the action of his boss, saying he remained a member of the PDP.

The deputy governor who led a 25-man delegation to Kaduna to confer with the Vice President, Namadi Sambo on the situation of the party in the state, also pledged unalloyed loyalty to President Goodluck Jonthan and the National Working Committee of the party.

He told reporters after the meeting with the Vice President at the late Gen. Hassan Katsina House, Kawo, Kaduna on Wednesday that the party in the state had resolved to ensure the unity of members in the state.