By Hammed Shittu in Ilorin
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara state was hit by a wave of defections over the weekend, with no fewer than 5,000 APC members publicly defecting to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state ahead of the 2023 elections.
The most affected local government councils in the state are the Ilorin West and Asa local government areas.
The defectors also crossed Ajikobi, Ubandawaki, and Ogidi wards.
Adewole, Badari, and other communities in the Ilorin West local government area
The defectors also came from five communities in Laduba ward: Sapati, Abayawo, Budo-Ago, and Ago-Oja, all in the state’s Asa local government area.
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The defectors in Baboko ward, led by Mr. Toyin Abdul, Mr. Olohuntoyin Rahmeen, Engineer Yinka Yusuf, and the Igbo community in Baboko, stated that they decided to leave the APC due to the alleged poor performance of the current administration in the state, as well as the APC led government’s lack of capacity and capability to provide good leadership to the people of the state.
They also said that, their decision to dump the APC was to support the leadership qualities of the PDP leaders in the state especially the former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki to lead the state from hawks of the APC led administration..
Welcoming the decampees, the Baboko Ward PDP chairman, Alhaji Mashood Yakub advised them to work for the progress of PDP and the country at large.
Also, at Laduba ward, one of the leaders of the youth group, Mr. Mathew Adachi who led other APC members to PDP confirmed that they were core members of APC and they worked for the success of the party in 2019.
Adachi lamented that, “the current administration in Kwara State has failed and betrayed the trust of the people”, pointing out that, “APC is a discriminating party which has nothing to offer for the electorate”.
Also speaking, the Seriki Zuru communities, in Laduba ward who led his people to the venue, Alhaji Garuba Umar, revealed that they were tired of the present administration in both state and federal, describing them as an ignorant and wicked set of people.
He explained that the Zuru communities had not benefited anything from the present administration since inception of office three years ago.
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The Zuru traditional leader in Afon commended the leadership of the former Senate President and PDP for making them know the real electorate lovers, assuring that they would work for the success of PDP at both the State and Federal level.
The decampees were later received into the PDP by some leaders like Alhaji Jimoh Adesina, the DG Mandate Office, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, Alhaji Musa Abdullahi among others.
