All 21 of the Labour Party’s local government area chairmen in Kogi State defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Friday, dealing the party a blow.
Along with a sizable number of their supporters, the chairmen defected to the ruling APC.
According to NAN, they were welcomed by Alhaji Abdullahi Bello, the state APC chairman, at the Lugard House in Lokoja.
The defectors’ leader, Mr. Awe Kayode, claimed that they made the decision to merge with the APC in order to assist Usman Ododo, the party’s candidate for governor, in the upcoming Nov. 11 election.
The need for their defection, according to Kayode, arose when they understood that the LP was no longer viable in the state.
“Another reason for our defection is our opinion that Usman Ododo, the APC candidate, has demonstrated that he is a unifier whose nationalist traits are required to build on Gov. Yahaya Bello’s accomplishments.
“Before leaving to join the Labour Party, I was a member of APC. We are prepared to provide value now that I have returned with more employees. In the most recent presidential election, LP received more than 76,000 votes; the same team that worked to accomplish that feat is still in place.
“The state belongs to all of us, hence we have chosen to put aside any ethnic or religious agenda in favour of supporting the APC candidate who supports the Kogi Agenda.
However, he added, “this time around, we intend to do the same to APC and Ododo. Indeed, the Labour Party organisation in the state was a powerful one that delivered enormous votes to the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, without incentive or help.
According to Kayode, the decision to merge the LP structure into the APC was made in order to work with the progressives to implement the Kogi Agenda, which aimed to further bring the populace together and guarantee equitable development for all.
A political party, according to Jimba Emmanuel, the LP chairman for Bassa LGA and the head of the LP Chairmen Forum, is only a means to an end.
He continued by saying that good government was about those who were passionate about growth and bringing the benefits of democracy to the populace.
He claimed that the LP’s choice for governor lacked the necessary qualities, which led them to decide to leave “the sinking ship.”
He stated: “I and my coworkers here have decided to mobilise all of our structures across the 21 local government areas to cast a sizable number of votes for the APC candidate on November 11.”
Awe Kayode, the organiser of the “Obidient Movement” in Kogi, was praised by the commissioner for education, science, and technology, Wemi Jones, for his tenacity and capacity for mobilisation.
Jones claimed that the size of the throng demonstrated the sincerity of the people’s decision to support the progressives.
To ensure the sustainability and consolidation of the accomplishments made by Yahaya Bello’s government, he asked the defectors to work together in campaigning and mobilising for the victory of the APC governorship candidate.
Abdullahi Bello, the chairman of the APC in Kogi, welcomed the defectors and declared, “APC is a party that believes in development, equality, and has a good reward system.”
