The Senate President David Mark on Wednesday said he would never abandon the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, for another party because he owes his accomplishment as a politician to his membership of the party.
Mark said this during a special service held in his honour at the St. Mulumba Catholic Church in Abuja to celebrate his 67th birthday.
He was apparently reacting to speculations that he was being pressured to dump the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to join the All Progressive Congress, APC, in order to retain his seat as leader of the Senate.
But Mark said that rather than joining the APC, as many PDP stalwarts were currently doing, he would prefer to strive hard to bring the ruling party back to prominence.
“I have no reason to jump ship. I will not leave the PDP. I will be the last man standing for the PDP. The party gave me the platform to be where I am today.
“I will stay in the PDP to contribute my quota to the rebuilding and restructuring of the party,” he said.
He said that it was a normal trend for winners and losers to emerge from political contests but added that this was not reason enough for politicians to leave one party for the other as a result of the loss of political power.
He said the setback for the PDP was a strong reason for it to go back to the drawing board to re-strategize for future political contests.
Mark called those leaving the PDP for the APC as ‘fair weather’ friends who can be found in every human association.
“The outcome of the presidential election in favour of APC is the will of God and majority of Nigerians. We in the PDP have accepted the result in good faith.
“Those drifting to the APC now are fair weather friends of the PDP. They are seeking new green areas. When the PDP bounces back, they will seek another return to the PDP. I believe in PDP manifestos,” Mark stated