A governorship aspirant on the platform of All Progressives Congress(APC), Gbenga Edema, has dumped the party and defected to New Nigeria People’s Party(NNPP).
He has also been declared the candidate of NNPP for the November 16, 2024 gubernatorial election in Ondo State.
The party made the declaration on Wednesday in Akure, the state capital, at the party’s special meeting held in which he was ratified as the governorship candidate of the party.
Edema, the former Chairman of Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC), was declared the party’s governorship candidate following the withdrawal of Oluwatosin Ayeni, the governorship placeholder of NNPP, from the race.
The State Chairman of NNPP, Mr. Peter Olagookun, said that Ayeni willingly withdrew his candidacy to give way for a better candidacy of the party.
Edema, a barrister at Law, was one of the 16 governorship aspirants on the platform of APC, but dumped the party and defected to NNPP as a result of credibility challenge of the party’s primary.
In his acceptance speech, Edema, who was a former Commissioner representing Ondo State in Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC), appreciated the National Leader of the party., “Senator, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso, FSNE, the Mandugu of Nigeria politics, for leading this great party through the process of conducting a seamless, rancour-free congress to elect the candidate of the party for this gubernatorial election, of which I am the chief beneficiary.
“I also wish to use this opportunity to express my profound gratitude to you all our esteemed delegates who have counted me worthy by unanimously voting me as your standard bearer for the gubernatorial elections coming up on the 16th of November, 2024.
“I offer myself as your candidate and standard bearer for the Ondo State gubernatorial election coming up on the 16th November 2024. I accept the challenge, I accept the mandate freely and willingly granted to me today, and I promise not to ever look back.
“With the NNPP, we are providing a more veritable and people-oriented government to all the good people of Ondo State as captured in our manifesto which would be made available in due course.”
Giving reasons for dumping APC, Edema emphasised that “One of the most important aspects of our democratic process is the issue of internal democracy in the affairs of the political parties.
“The issue of internal democracy manifests in the manner that parties conduct their election processes which must be predictable, transparent and in compliance with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, (1999) (as amended); the Electoral Act, 2002; the Constitution of the various parties and their rules guiding the conduct of their elections.”
“It is in the public domain that the purported primary election conducted by the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on 20/04/2024 for the selection of its gubernatorial candidate for the 16th November, 2024 election is lacking in these attributes and as such cannot be described as democratic.”
“This act of impunity should not be supported and be allowed to continue in our polity.”
“It is on this note that I hereby formally announce my resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC) forthwith. I hereby pitch my tent with the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), a truly progressive and people-oriented party. This is a party for the immediate future. I don port o!”
Moreover, the governorship candidate of NNPP handed down a quit notice to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to prepare to vacate the Government House at Alagbaka on February 24, 2025.
He said: “We therefore use this medium to serve a notice to quit to Governor Lucky Orimisan Ayedatiwa and his APC cohorts that effective from the 24th February 2025, the Government House, Alagbaka will no longer be available for their use.”
•INDEPENDENTNG.