A former Governor of Gombe State and Senator representing Gombe Central, Muhammad Danjuma Goje, has said he is still consulting on his political future.
Daily Trust reports that political leaders from both the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) are lobbying and mounting pressure on Senator Goje to defect to their parties, after it became clear that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is not offering him its ticket.
Addressing a mammoth crowd of supporters at his Gombe residence on Saturday, Goje denied defecting to any political party, affirming that he remained a member of the APC.
“I have not defected to any political party. I am still a member of the APC. But I will soon make known my next political move. Therefore, I am urging you to cooperate with our leaders and remain loyal to the party,” he said.
The senator, who is serving his fourth term in the senate, urged his supporters to return to their respective bases and await further communication.
Reflecting on his almost 45 years in active politics, Goje said he had contested elections eight times from second republic to date, stating that he emerged victorious in all the previous contests without losing.
“During these four decades, I was elected a member of a State House of Assembly, a two-term governor. And won election for the senate seat four times, as well as serving as a minister between 1999 and 2001,” he added.
According to him, he succumbed to pressure from supporters and contested in 2023, after he had initially announced his retirement from politics in 2019 and made known his intention not to contest in the 2023 elections.
He, however, assured his supporters that his empowerment programmes would continue irrespective of his political status, “I want to assure you that my empowerment programmes whether I am in the senate or not.”
Our correspondent reports that Goje, who has been representing Gombe Central Senatorial District since 2011, after his two terms as governor of the state, did not make it in the direct primary election conducted by the APC.
His bid to return to the Senate for the fifth time suffered a setback when the Gombe State APC House of Representatives and Senate Primary Elections Committee declared DCP Mohammed Ahmed (Rtd) as the duly elected candidate for the Gombe Central Senatorial District seat.
Credit to our Media Partner DailyTrust .
