Former Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Francis Okiye, has rejoined the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the September 21 governorship election.
Okiye, who resigned from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) penultimate week, has returned to the party he left with Governor Godwin Obaseki in 2020.
Speaking at a rally in Edo Central, Okiye revealed that about 2,500 people have moved to the APC from Esan West, Esan Central, Esan North East, Esan South East, and Igueben local governments of the state. According to him, the defected members are from both the Labour Party and the PDP.
“Before today, we met and discussed with Governor Godwin Obaseki and asked him to address issues of alienation, disillusionment, highhandedness, and despotic tendencies. But nothing has been done to address these issues, so we, the ‘aborigine’ PDP, have just given the Obaseki-led PDP a red card,” Okiye stated.
“My exit from the PDP is a minus for the party, whether anyone likes to interpret it otherwise. If they are democrats, they will know that they have at least lost my vote, not to mention the many others who moved with me to the APC.”
He asserted that his return to the APC would help the party win the September 21 governorship election in the state. He explained that they will soon begin a house-to-house campaign to inform people why they must leave the PDP and join the APC.
