Few days to the Bayelsa State governorship election, a major setback hit the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday, with defection of some aides of Governor Seriake Dickson, members of the State Working Committee of the PDP and over 2,000 faithful to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The three members of the SWC of the PDP that abandoned the party are the Assistant Secretary, Ben Oliver; Assistant Organising Secretary, Miriam Kingsley; Ex-officio member, Diepreye Alaga.
Also, two Special Advisers to Dickson who jumped into the APC train were Oberiaghakuma Yossou and Ayobeya James.
The defectors were received by the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and the party’s flag bearer, Chief Timipre Sylva.
The defecting aides and the PDP faithful declared for the APC during the kick-off campaign of the party’s governorship candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva.
The APC campaign was star- studded as the who is who in the APC apparatchik was present at the kick-off campaign including the former Military Administrator of Lagos State, Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa, former Governor of Ekiti State, Segun Oni, Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri and former acting Governor of the state, Chief Nestor Binabo.
Others were APC state chairman, Tiwei Oruminighe, National Organising Secretary of APC, Senator Osita Izinaso, two-time member of House of Representatives, Warman Ogoriba, among other party leaders.
Odigie-Oyegun, who presented the flag of the party to Sylva, urged the people of the state to embrace change, while advising that if the state needed progress, it was only the APC that could guarantee it.
In his remarks, Sylva said the victory train of the APC was on the move and enjoined Bayelsans to embrace change which the party represented.
He urged the crowd to observe a minute silence each for the deceased former governor of the state, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and former chieftain of the APC, late Col. Sam Inokoba.
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