Four members of the Edo State House of Assembly elected on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) and some political appointees on Monday announced their defection to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
It was yet another loss for APC as a faction of the party in the state led by a chieftain of the party, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu also announced their defection to PDP.
Ize-Iyamu was the former national vce chairman of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the South-south zone.
The four lawmakers who. formally announced their defection to PDP were Honourables Jude Ise-Idehen ((Ikpoba/Okha constituency) Friday Ogieriakhi (Orhionmwon II), Patrick Osayimwen (Oredo East) and Abdulrazaq Momoh (Etsako I)).
Monday’s defection swelled the ranks of the PDP lawmakers in the 24-member Assembly to eight.
The political appointees who ldumped APC for PDP included Special Adviser to Governor Adams Oshiomhole on Project Monitoring, Mr Osaretin Edosomwan; Director, Poverty Alleviation Agency, Mrs Evelyn (Omokhodion) Igbafe, Special Adviser on Legislative Matters to the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Mr. Tony Osazuwa, and Special Adviser on Commerce, Industry and Investment, Mr. John Odiase.
Other political appointees who dumped Oshiomhole’s APC were Executive Director, Project Monitoring and Implementation, Mr. Shuaibu Elamah, and Executive Director, Sports, Mr Joseph Osagiede.
A former member of the Edo State House of Assembly, Etiosa Ogbeiwi and a host of others also announced their defection to PDP.
Spokesman of the group and former state chairman of the defunct ACN, Prince Tony Omoaghe said in Benin that the decision to leave the APC was taken after extensive consultations with other members of the party across the state.
“We have come to the inevitable conclusion that Nigeria is gradually evolving a two-party system. Therefore, common sense dictates that having left the hostile environment of the APC in Edo State, the only logical option is to join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),” declared Omoage.
“We are not unmindful of the attempt by some uninformed commentators to draw an ideological line between the two parties. We could therefore not be detained in the APC when it was clear that the party in Edo state has been hijacked by a cabal who do not believe in free democratic participation,” he lamented.
Continued the former ACN chairman, “It is quite unfortunate to note that the same undemocratic tendencies which forced us to leave the PDP in 2007 to form the defunct ACN is now being replicated by the APC in Edo state.
“The PDP on the other hand, appear to have learnt from their past mistakes and have openly demonstrated their desire to open the political space for free democratic participation,” continued Omoage, stressing, “We are impressed with the leadership of the PDP in Edo State and we see the party today as a more sincere, refined and better organized political platform”