Hammed Shittu in Ilorin
No fewer than 10,000 members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara North senatorial district of Kwara State thursday defected to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The former APC members recently signified their defection plan, alleging that crisis hit APC shortly after the assumption of office of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
However, present at the event were representatives selected across the five local government areas in the Kwara north, in adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols.
The leader of the group, Hon. Manzuma Kawu Dogo claimed that “we are about 10,000 in number across the 58 wards in the district “.
Dogo said that they decided to leave the ruling APC because of conflict and crisis among party leaders and members, allegedly caused by non-adherence to the party’s constitution.
He said party members were de-enfranchised, miserable and no longer had sense of belonging due to unfulfilled campaign promises.
“Along the line, the centre cannot hold and things fall apart as a result of injustice, lack of fairness, recognition and sense of belonging to the party members,” he added.
He said the next local government elections would mark gradual extinction of the ruling APC from the state.
“After waiting for a year, we discovered that the truth has prevailed, necessitating our movement as against compromising our principle. It is high time for us to maintain our clear noble principle towards bringing positive changes and betterment to our people. As you can see there is nothing in the PDP to share now to anyone, therefore our decamping from APC to PDP is based on conviction,” Dogo clarified.
Welcoming the new members, the Kwara State Chairman of PDP, Mr. Kola Shittu, described the development as unprecedented, assuring the new members that they will enjoy same rights the existing party members enjoy without discrimination.
“We’re not surprised with the development due to unfulfilled promises of the present administration in the state. Doors of our party are wide open just as our umbrella is big enough to house every citizen of the state,” he said.
