Mass defection hits Edo state as SPD members join PDP

– A massive defection has been experienced in Edo state

 – Thousands of Social Democratic Party (SDP) members have reportedly defected to PDP

 – Edo state will do better under the PDP says leader of SDP

 Edo will fare better if the PDP governorship candidate, Pastor Osa­gie Ize-Iyamu is elected governor of the state, says leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and a for­mer National Assembly member representing Etsako federal constitu­ency, Alhaji Abubakar Momoh.

 Momoh who was the senatorial candidate of SDP in the last general election in Edo North made the declaration when he led thousands of SDP leaders, mem­bers and supporters to resign en-masse from the party to join the PDP at a campaign rally held at Royal block Court­yard at Auchi in Etsako West Local Government Area of the state.


“We decided to join the PDP because it has a candidate that will help Edo State get out of where it is today which is not comfortable. 

That candidate is a person who I believe will help to move Edo forward.” He said his faith in the PDP and its candidate, Ize-Iyamu under which platform he served as a two-term state law­maker and partly as a federal lawmaker, stems from the fact that he has known the candidate since 1987.

 “If he becomes the governor of Edo State, he is a man I honestly believe is the right per­son for the job. Why I think he is the right man is because he is a man of truth; he will not make empty promises”.

 Abubakar enjoined the new PDP members to take the good news down to their units and wards so that they can tell their friends and family that on Septem­ber 10, the symbol to vote for is no longer the horse of the SDP but the Umbrella of the PDP.

 Accepting the new en­trants into the party, the state Chairman, Chief Dan Orbih assured them of equal status with existing members of the party and en­joined them to go back home with the mes­sage from Alh Momoh that they must all work to deliver Ize-Iyamu as governor.

 In his response, the PDP governorship hopeful, Pastor Ize-Iyamu commended the former SDP leader for his support and solidar­ity as he assured voters at the rally that he will keep faith with all his electoral promises if elected.

 Ize-Iyamu had earlier paid a courtesy visit to the traditional ruler of South Ibie at Iyakpi and held a rally in front of his palace before other campaigns at Apana and Udaba, both in Etsako West and East Local Government Areas re­spectively.