Over 10,000 members of the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo state have decamped into the ruling All Progressive Congress in the state.
National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, received the over 10,000 decampees as the party wraps up its campaign for the upcoming local government elections slated for March 3, in the state at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, the Edo State capital.
In his remarks, Governor Godwin Obaseki, said that the APC intends to change the face of local government administration by fielding candidates who do not only possess integrity but are going to be bringing varied expertise as experienced professionals.
According to him, “Today, we are making history. I am not sure there is any state in Nigeria that wraps up a campaign for local government elections with such a Mega Rally. The men and women we have put forward are people of integrity. Some of them have doctorate degrees while others have worked for many organisations.”
Noting that he intends to distil his brand of politics to the local government areas in the state, Obaseki said, “They are going to move the wake and see mantra to the local governments. We want to show that Nigeria is an APC country and that Edo is an APC state. We want to assure the President that he has 1.2m votes from Edo State in the presidential elections. We want to assure Edo people that after Saturday elections, they will have ‘wake and see’ councillors and local government area chairmen.”
National Chairman of APC, Chief Odigie-Oyegun, said that the APC is not a party that takes people for granted and is not a party for cowards, noting, “We welcome leaders from the opposition, who have joined from the different local government areas. We are very sure that we are going to have 18 local government chairmen after these elections.”