OVER Five thousand members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ikwo local government area of Ebonyi State have defected to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The decampees used the occasion and donated a brand new Sienna Bus to Governor Umahi for his re-election reelection campaign.
The state Deputy Governor, Dr Kelechi Igwe, announced the decision of the decampees on Friday during the flag-off of the PDP campaign held at nwanoyo mini township stadium in Ikwo LGA.
Speaking on behalf of the defectors, the Ebonyi Central Senatorial candidate of APC in 2015, Chief Vincent Anyigor, said they were more than 5000 APC members from the LGA that decided to leave APC for good.
He said their decision was informed by the excellent performances of the PDP government in the state and they needed to join the moving train.
He said, ” we were deceived not to vote governor David Umahi in 2015 that he is a thief but if this is how a thief behaves, we want to have more of him.”
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Anyigor assured the governor that they would join hands to ensure he and other PDP candidates secured 100 per cent votes in the council area.
Receiving the defectors, Governor Umahi commended them for making the right choice. He then appointed one of the decampees, Friday Ilang, as his Technical Assistant.
According to Governor Umahi who stated that the choice of Ikwo LGA for the campaign flag-off was the unalloyed support the people of the council area gave to him during 2015 when the party first has chosen the area for their flag-off.
Umahi explained that despite he did not enjoy the support of his former boss, Ex-Governor Martin Elechi in 2015, the people of Ikwo LGA still gave him 90percent votes, saying he was optimistic that they would replicate same in the upcoming elections.
He urged the party faithful to throw their support behind all PDP candidates; maintaining that those contesting against them were wasting their time as the party had, no rival in the state.
In their separate speeches, the director general of Umahi’s campaign Organisation, Chief Fidelis Nwankwo; the state Chairman of PDP, Barr Onyekachi Nwebonyi and the National Vice Chairman of PDP, South East zone, Chief Austin Umahi, the trio urged the people to reelect Umahi and other PDP candidates as a reward for good work is more work.
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