The defection of members of the PDP said to have swept across the Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State at the weekend had no national leader of APC in attendance.
Gbaramatu Kingdom, as it will be recalled, has always been a PDP stronghold and the constituent that produced the current Delta State deputy governor, Mr Kingsley Otuaro.
A chieftain of the APC and an indigene of the kingdom, Chief Michael Johnny, who is the deputy chairman of the Mainstream Delta APC (MDA), received his kinsmen into the party.
He charged the new members to take the message back home to others that the salvation of the Ijaw nation would be delivered by the APC.
Speaking to journalists at the event, the vice chairman of the Delta State chapter of the APC, Chief Cyril Ogodo, said the conquering of Gbaramatu Kingdom was the key to winning Delta State for APC.
He urged all Deltans to pray for deliverance from the stranglehold of the PDP in the state come 2019.
“You should be in no doubt that Gbaramatu Kingdom is the backbone of the Ijaw nation all over the world. What you are witnessing here today is the final burial ceremony of the PDP in Delta state because one area that the APC had not been able to crack in Delta state, since 2015, is this kingdom, but that God, the person of Michael Johnny has been able to crack this nut for us today and it’s a big plus for the APC in Delta state.
“My advice to Deltans is that they should be steadfast, they should be prayerful because to remove the Goliath in Delta state, you need the wisdom of God.
“That giant that has held Deltans hostage for more than 18 years, prayers can remove them. APC and PDP are going to fight in 2019 and the war is going to bring freedom to the people of Delta state. APC government is going to be in charge of this state from 2019.
“The number you are seeing here is more than 3000; you can see the hall here and you can see the people outside. Over 3,000 of Gbaramatu faithful have been harvested.
“You can see the brother of the deputy governor, Kingsley Otuaro, he was the one who spoke last, he’s among those who just decamped to APC.
“We are harvesting them and we will not leave any stone unturned, we will go into the nooks and cranny of Ijaw nation to ensure they are all in support of the APC in Delta state,” Ogodo said.
Chief Johnny reminded the people that the kingdom had been in turmoil since it fell into the hands of PDP politicians.
He promised that the exclusion, which the majority of the people in Gbaramatu had suffered under PDP, would soon end when the APC takes the state.
“PDP has failed us. In Gbaramatu, you cannot point out one particular project that they have executed, none in Burutu, none in Patani, not in Bomadi, not in Egbema, not even in some parts of Warri South. Nothing to talk about and it’s all because we are not united,” he opined.
Dignitaries at the event included the Secretary of the party in Delta State, Comrade Chidi Okonji, the party’s Financial Secretary, Hon Ebiakpo Ezebiri, an elder from Oporoza, the traditional headquarters of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Chief Joel Gbanale among others.
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