More reactions have continued trail the recent massive defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) by Governor Sheriff of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa his political godfather and predecessors and other stakeholders of the PDP in the state.
The latest reaction comes from
Gloria Umukotete, National Woman Leader, Network for Better Nigeria (NBN who kicked against incumbent Governor Oborevwori’s action in massively pulling out the PDP members to APC.
In an exclusive interview with BusinessDay Sunday in Asaba, Umukotete said the development is pushing the state to one party state even as she saw Nigeria becoming a one-party country should the remaining PDP-led states toe the line of Oborevwori and Delta PDP.
“PDP has been the ruling party in Delta State since 1999 (from the inception of the present democracy in Nigeria). The question to ask the PDP members is ‘what happened to their ideology. Is it that they no longer believe in their ideology as a party?’
“How would a full house just move from one party to another? I don’t really see any form of commitment. It shows that whatever politics they are into is for their personal gains.
“They are not out to promote the ideologies of the political parties that brought them on board. That is my take, she asserted.
Continuing, Umukotete noted that a one-party system is not the best for the country or a state. That is not true politics because if Nigeria is a one-party country, the president is the leader. At the state level, the governor is the leader. Under one party system, the party is supreme and you must respect hierarchy. Nobody can question the government.
“From the National Assembly to the State House of Assembly, everyone is one party. Nobody opposes the Speaker or the Senate President. But if there is opposition party, it opposes and every little opportunity you have, you project your party, to be relevant.
“So, I’m not happy with what we are seeing in the sense that the whole Delta is moving into one party – APC and the governor is the one commanding everybody in PDP to go along with him to APC.
‘”The governor directed the local government chairmen to join him. I don’t like it as a person. I think politics should be something of choice. It should not be a thing of ‘where Governor Oborevwori goes, we should all go.
“Those who are PDP die-hard members may remain in the party but I see most of them leaving soon and the party will be completely dead just like what happened in Cross River State,” Umukotete, a native of Delta State observed.
It would be recalled that Oborevwori and other stakeholders in the state on Wednesday, formally announced their resignation from the PDP to join the ruling APC in the country.
Announcing the defection, at Government House, Asaba, James Manager, the pioneer chairman of the PDP in the state, said the decision was taken in consultation with various stakeholders across the state.
“You have just been told about some of the things that have been happening in the PDP Delta State. Some consultations have been going on and the climax of these consultations is what you are seeing today.
“We have discussed and have disagreed to agree and it is a unanimous agreement. I am the pioneer state chairman of the PDP. But you cannot be in a boat that is already capsizing because I am a riverine man.
“Looking at issues the way they are, we have come to the inevitable conclusion to do something else. It is a collective decision for so many reasons.
“Few days ago, there was a resolution taken by the PDP Governor’s forum at Ibadan. Almost all the Governors were there and they resolved that they are not going into coalition with any other party.
“But as disadvantaged as the PDP is now with about 11 Governors, how do you go into a contest with an incumbent president? You think you can win? That particular resolution killed the spirit of so many PDP members.
“We lost election in 2015 as a result of a merger which even included splinter groups from the PDP. There are also other reasons.
“Today, Senator Anyanwu is the National Secretary of the party tomorrow is another person. The party must be positioned to go into an election to win. So, you see that it is becoming very funny. The PDP is truly in trouble, he said
In support of Manager, Charles Aniagwu, Delta State Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, had said the decision became necessary following the unfortunate happenings at the National level of the party.
He added that the leaders of the party were unanimous in their view that the political temperature has changed.
“We believe that what is happening in the PDP at the national can be likened to that Palm wine whose taste has changed and that is why this decision has been taken.
“By the grace of God, on Monday next week, we would be able to make a bold statement that we are moving to the APC.”
With Oborevwori now in APC colours, the South‑South’s political map tightens as the new alignment enhances President Bola Tinubu’s re‑election calculus by adding roughly 1.4 million Delta votes to the ruling party, Aniagwu said.
