- Former information commissioner defects with more than 200 supporters days after leaving the ruling party
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) on Saturday formally received Jonathan Vatsa, a former commissioner and founding Niger State publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), at a rally in Minna attended by a large crowd of supporters.
Rufus Aiyenigba, the SDP’s national publicity secretary and its Kogi West senatorial candidate, received Vatsa on behalf of the party’s national chairman, Professor Sadiq Umar Abubakar Gombe, and the national leadership.
Vatsa, who holds a doctorate, served as Niger State commissioner for information, culture and tourism. He was also special adviser on media and public communication to Gov. Mohammed Umaru Bago. He was the APC’s first publicity secretary in the state.
He left the ruling party on Wednesday, Oct. 28, and registered with the SDP in his Angwa-Gulu Vasta Ward in Lapai Local Government Area. More than 200 supporters joined him and received membership cards.
SDP governorship candidate Mohammed Ndarani Mohammed, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has appointed Vatsa spokesperson of his campaign and director of contact and mobilization. In the second role, Vatsa will oversee grassroots mobilization operations and coordination.
Mohammed’s campaign is built around a five-point agenda, which Vatsa said he joined the party to help advance. The campaign cited Vatsa’s profile as a political communicator and his record in grassroots organizing in making the appointments.
Members of the state executive committee, along with zonal and local government officers of the party from all 21 local government areas, attended the event. It was coordinated by Niger State SDP Chairman Buhari Y. Yarima.
Others present included Air Vice Marshal Sadick Abubakar Liman (retired), the party’s national vice chairman for the North-Central region. Samson Japhet Pada, the deputy governorship candidate, represented Mohammed. Hajia Rahmat Auwal, the party’s state woman leader, also attended, along with other zonal leaders and officers.
Aiyenigba congratulated the party’s Niger State members on Vatsa’s arrival and described his exit from the APC as a major blow to the ruling party. He said Vatsa’s grassroots skills and political influence would help the SDP win the state in the general elections. He urged members to work in unity and show loyalty to the party’s cause.
Some political analysts in the state said the defection could shift the dynamics of the next general elections and has unsettled the governor’s camp. There was no immediate comment from the APC or the Bago administration. The party has not publicly responded to the defection.
