It was a harvest of defectors from the opposition parties to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Edo State on Saturday as the governorship candidate of the party for the September 21 election, Asue Ighodalo, and his running mate, Osarodion Ogie, took its campaign to Ovia South-West Local Government Area of the state.
The defection hit the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party (LP) as hundreds of their supporters pledged allegiance to the PDP as the ward-to-ward campaign train hit the local government area.
The campaign at wards 5 and 6 comprising Udo and Ora which was held at the Ezoti Primary School, Udo, witnessed the mass defection led by the duo of Roland Ohenhen and Ovie Ighofose, with Ohenhen leading the defectors from the LP, and Ighofose leading those from the APC.
The defectors hinged their action on the need to vote for an individual who had the competence, capacity and character and compassion to move the state forward and not a puppet who would be led by the nose and told what to do before doing it.
The crowd of PDP supporters at the Ezoti Primary School, which received the PDP candidate, Ighodalo, on behalf of the state PDP, symbolically handed umbrellas to the leaders of the defectors, assuring them all of equal treatment and equal opportunities in the PDP.
Addressing the crowd, Ighodalo expressed happiness and gratitude that they were able to find time to come out in spite of many commitments.
He said that felt loved him by the warmth reception accorded him and his running mate, Ogie, and assured them that he would reciprocate the gesture by working assiduously to ensure that Edo State did not go backwards.
Ighodalo who announced that he is a “son of the soil and happy to return home,” disclosed that for 11 years, he was a director at Okomu Oil until December last year.
He added that he facilitated the employment of many able bodied men from the the local government area into the company, to the admiration of the crowd.
He further heaped praises on the men working in the company for making Edo State proud because the company is one of the best in Africa.
Ighodalo commended the women who, in the face of hardship and tough times, had continued to hold the family together by the dexterous management skills, and thereafter, promised to ensure that, if elected, the road to Iguobazuwa would be completed and any other ongoing project in the locality also completed.
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