Not fewer than 1,000
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in the Eket Federal Constituency and
Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom state have defected to the All
Progressives Congress (APC).
PDP members that defected to APC in Akwa Ibom. |
The Punch reports that the defection is
believed to be part of political realignments ahead of the 2019 general
election.
Governor Udom Emmanuel hails from Eket Federal
Constituency while the Senate Minority Leader Senator Godswill Akpabio comes
from the Ikot Ekpene area, which is the political headquarters of Akwa Ibom
North-West Senatorial District.
The defection has reportedly caused panic
within the PDP and Emmanuel’s cabinet particularly as most of the defectors are
said to be Akpabio’s allies.
The defectors were received on Saturday, March
11 by the APC at the Eket residence of Bassey Dan-Abia (Jnr.), a former member
of the House of Representatives for the Eket Federal Constituency, who himself
defected to the APC just on Monday, March 6.
Dan-Abia saluted the boldness and the
courageous decision of the defectors to follow him to the APC and asked his
followers to respect constituted authorities, especially the APC-led Federal
Government.
In Ikot Ekpene, Ime Mboho, a former board
member of the Ethical and Attitudinal Reorientation Commission, led the
defectors.
He said his decision to leave the PDP was not
to spite or disgrace anybody but because of injustice and impunity in the
party.
“We are leaving the PDP for good. This is a
party that has not learnt from its past mistakes but continues to hold on
tenaciously to impunity. The PDP does not value commitment.
“Other people in
Ikot Ekpene have to make hay while the sun shines by joining the APC which has
the people’s interest at heart,” he
said.
This development comes just days after the
Independent National Electoral Commission released the timetable for the 2019 general elections.
The INEC national commissioner in charge of the south-west,
Solomon Soyebi, made the announcement at a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday,
March 9.
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