Malam Ibrahim Talba, OON

         (Ciroman Tikau)

41, Hospital Road, Potiskum, Yobe State

Protocols
Salam alaikum, fellow associates, distinguished ladies and gentlemen.

1. Let me begin by thanking you for your time today and your consistent support since I started my partisan political journey some five years ago. What propelled me then, as you are all aware, was the desire to change the face and practice of Yobe politics, which has been bereft of values, and commitment to the universally cherished principles of public service and issue- driven policy objectives.
2. However, the political platform upon which I wanted us to achieve these objectives did not give us a fair deal as is required in a democracy. But, as democrats,we have remained focused and refused to be intimidated or harangued into submission. We have remained committed in our belief in justice and in the judicial process. That was the reason we fought our way all through the judicial ladders during our struggle for the Yobe State gubernatorial ticket in 2015.
3. In the course of our quest for justice our party the PDP itself got enmeshed into its own contradictions and for upwards of two years, it has had to contend with one litigation after the other thereby getting it factionalized down the line. Today, despite the seeming judicial victory of one faction over the other, the PDP is again in the throes of another emerging crises as it prepares for its national convention a few days from now.
4. In Yobe, the PDP has no leadership, its hitherto massive support base, which we wanted to galvanize into a strong opposition with the aim of taking over power has largely been whittled down, if not completely eroded. My personal assessment of the PDP situation in Yobe tells me the Party cannot be a veritable platform upon which we can actualize our dream.
5. But as a democrat, I concede to the democratic rights of all of you, individually and collectively to belong to whatever political platform that catches your fancy. The purpose of this consultative engagement with you is, therefore, to first thank you for standing by me all this while, and secondly to formally announce, that having weighed all the options from both the national and Yobe State perspectives, I am resigning my membership of the PDP with effect from today, Sunday, Decemember 3^rd
6. The question now is what next? And why did I have to wait this long before arriving at this decision? The truth is I wanted to exhaust all options, both legal and internal dispute mechanisms of the PDP, but all these to no avail, hence the painful conclusion that it is now time to move on.

7. Meanwhile, very soon the political environment will begin to get active and many of you seated here and in other parts of Yobe will want to join in these activities. To be fair to all and without prejudice to the very strong personal bond we have built over the years, I wish to state without hesitation that those who wish to remain in the PDP are free to do so. For those who wish to stay with us you are most welcome, but you should be prepared to stay a little longer to enable us study the general political situation in the country and especially as it relates to Yobe State and our immediate interests.
8. Our choice of asking for a little patience is based on two reasons, viz:
   1. We have waited this long just to get to where we are and are happy that we have neither compromised nor remained out of relevance while the situation lasted.
   2. Also, both the ruling and opposition parties are passing through challenges peculiar to each of them at both Yobe and national levels. But since Yobe is our immediate point of concern we should be both strategic and deliberate in our choice. Our choice of what to do next would therefore be guided by events as they unfold and how we can key in, or, out of such events.
9. In conclusion, let me once again thank you profoundly for being willing partners in this journey, supportive followers and stakeholders in our noble objectives of changing our political landscape. You did not do it for money, which, in any case I do not have and therefore could not have given, but for the deep concerns in the economic and social progress of our people.

Once again thank very much and God bless.

10. Wassalam

 
Malam Ibrahim Talba, OON
(Ciroman Tikau)
Sunday, Decemember 3^rd, 2017.

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