Felix Akhabue, a governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Frank Okiye, the former Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
InfoStride News reports that Akhabue and Okiye were among the politicians who have resigned from PDP in the last few weeks.
Felix Akhabue was one of the ten aspirants on the PDP platform for the September 21 governorship election who protested the outcome of the ward and local government congresses.
Both Akhabue and Okiye resigned from PDP last week.
Akhabue is a former Esan West Local Government Chairman and a former Commissioner for Business, Wealth Creation, and Cooperative during Governor Obaseki’s first tenure.
Okiye was once the deputy chief of staff in the office of the deputy governor during the Adams Oshiomhole administration and served as the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly in 2019 before being impeached in 2020.
The duo joined several others who defected to APC on Sunday at the Edo Central senatorial political rally held in Ekpoma, the administrative headquarters of Esan West Local Government Area.
Okiye cited his decision to resign from PDP on the alleged alienation of the majority of his constituents and supporters by the state government under Governor Obaseki.
He also criticized the party’s governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, for pledging to continue Governor Obaseki’s principles if elected.
Speaking at the rally, the former speaker claimed that about 2,500 people from Esan West, Esan Central, Esan North East, Esan South East, and Igueben have moved to APC from Labour Party and PDP.
“Prior to today, we had met, discussed, and asked the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led PDP government to address the issues of alienation, disillusionment, high-handedness, and despotic tendencies.
Nothing has been done to address these issues, so we, the ‘Aborigine’ PDP, have just given the Obaseki-led PDP a red card.
“We will begin the house-to-house campaign soon and let people know why they must leave PDP and join APC.
They must vote for a candidate who is humane and not business people who are in the state to make profit,” he said.
The former speaker noted that with the defection, PDP has lost a minimum of 500 votes, emphasizing that these 500 individuals have the potential to convince others to work for APC.
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