Rebel governors who defected from the ruling party of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in August merged their splinter group with the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday, they said in a joint statement. Seven governors and a former presidential candidate formed a splinter group opposed to Jonathan in August. All of them were present for the meeting at which the decision to merge was made, said Lai Mohammed, spokesman for the APC. "After exhaustive deliberations, the two parties agreed to merge in order to rescue our fledgling democracy and the nation," said the joint statement, read out by Kawu Baraje, chairman of the splinter group. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/87536.aspx