More than 300 members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ondo State have defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress, further weakening the main opposition party across the 18 local government areas of the state.
The defectors were formally received at the APC Secretariat in Akure on Monday by the state Chairman of the party, Mr Ade Adetimehin. He described the mass defection as a significant boost to the APC’s structure and electoral strength ahead of future elections, particularly in support of President Bola Tinubu’s second term ambition and the party’s national and state assembly candidates.
Adetimehin attributed the steady influx of members to the party’s internal cohesion and leadership capacity. According to him, the APC has effective mechanisms for managing internal disagreements and integrating new members without deilising its structure.
“This expansion of our membership base will further strengthen the party ahead of future elections,” he said, urging the new members to return to their wards and actively participate in grassroots mobilisation.
One of the defectors, Bamidele Ayodele, popularly known as BOA, said the decision to leave the PDP was reached after wide consultations with stakeholders. Ayodele, who contested as a House of Assembly candidate under the PDP in the last general election, described his former party as fractured and unprepared to provide credible governance.
He disclosed that while over 300 members were physically present at the ceremony, more than 2000 others had resolved at the ward level to join the APC in the coming weeks.
Ayodele said the move was driven by a desire to align with what he described as progressive governance, adding that joining the ruling party was a step toward contributing meaningfully to development and delivering dividends of democracy to the people.
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