Sequel to incessant conflict and internal crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State, about 10,000 members of the ruling party on Thursday decamped to the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
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The decampees are from Kwara north senatorial district, the stronghold of Kwara State governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.
The aggrieved former APC members had last week in a statement announced their defection plan and they made good that decision Thursday at a brief ceremony at the PDP state secretariat in Ilorin, the state capital.
Though those that were physically present at the event were representatives picked across the five local government areas in Kwara north, in adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols, the leader of the group, Manzuma Kawu Dogo claimed that “we are about 10,000 in number across the 58 wards in the district “.
According Dogo, 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.
Pointing out that political crisis was keen among the APC members, Dogo added that the development did not allow growth but decline.
He said party members were de-enfranchised, miserable and no longer had a sense of belonging due to unfulfilled campaign promises, adding that “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”.
Dogo explained that the next local government elections would mark a 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 decampees, the PDP state chairman, Kola Shittu, described the development as unprecedented, assuring the new members that they will enjoy same rights the existing party members enjoy without discrimination.
Shittu had while assuring that PDP was determined to better their future, informed that: “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.”
Concurring with decampees’ claims of alleged non-performance by the APC- led government in the state, Shittu said that “if our party had won the last gubernatorial election in the state, by now workers in the state would have started enjoying the N30,000 new minimum wage in fulfilment of our agreement with the organised labour in the state.
“We should take our future in our hands. I’ve directed party leaders across the state to open new register and issue membership cards to new members so that registration at ward levels is done to ensure that nobody is left behind.”
