Chief Aribogha Johnny, a key leader in the Peoples Democratic Party in Delta State and the Koromotiemowei of the Ogbe Ijoh Warri Kingdom, officially defected to the All Progressives Congress on Wednesday.
A few hours after the Independent National Election Commission announced that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC had won the 2023 presidential election, Johnny and his supporters defected.
In a statement that he personally signed, the former PDP leader explained that his “decision came not just as a result of the outcome of the just-concluded presidential election, but as a result of the level of marginalization and disregard he has faced in the Peoples Democratic Party for many years.”
He claims that despite his contributions to the party’s recent triumphs at the state level, the party leadership began treating him like a “low-class member” and so alienated him from the PDP.
“As a result,” he said, “I have chosen to join a party where my contributions to state and national politics will be acknowledged and valued.
The APC leadership in Delta, led by Elder Godsday Orubebe, the director of the party’s governorship campaign council, and Chief Bosin Ebikeme, the director of the party’s contact and mobilization campaign council, welcomed Johnny and his supporters and expressed their happiness to have him, noting that his decision to join the APC was the right one.
They stated that the Delta APC would view him as a legitimate member who would participate in party decision-making.