Ex-Edo Assembly Speaker and Former Commissioner Defect from PDP to APC

Felix Akhabue and Frank Okiye, who were previously affiliated with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have recently defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

This move comes as part of a larger trend of politicians resigning from the PDP in recent weeks.

Akhabue, who was one of the 10 aspirants for the governorship election, had previously expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome of the ward and local government congresses. Meanwhile, Okiye, who served as the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, cited reasons such as the alleged alienation of his constituents and supporters by the state government under Governor Obaseki as well as the alignment of the party’s governorship candidate with Obaseki’s principles.

Both Akhabue and Okiye joined several others in defecting to the APC during a political rally in Ekpoma. At the rally, Okiye announced that approximately 2,500 individuals from the Labour Party and PDP had also joined the APC.

In the past, we had engaged in meetings and discussions with the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led PDP government, expressing our concerns regarding issues of alienation, disillusionment, high-handedness, and despotic tendencies. Unfortunately, no action has been taken to address these concerns.

As a result, we, the “Aborigine” PDP, have decided to give the Obaseki-led PDP a red card. We are now preparing to launch a house-to-house campaign to inform people about why they should leave the PDP and join the APC.

Our aim is to encourage them to vote for a candidate who is compassionate, rather than individuals who are solely focused on making profits in the state. The former speaker emphasized that with this defection, the PDP has lost at least 500 votes, and these 500 individuals also have the ability to persuade others to support the APC.