– A former Delta state governor has revealed why he is still a member of the Peoples Democratic Party
– Emmanuel Uduaghan said he is still with the PDP because James Ibori and Ifeanyi Okowa are keeping him
– He reports that he would be defecting to APC to use the party’s ticket to stand for the Delta south seat in the Senate is false
The past governor of Delta state, Emmanuel Uduaghan, on Wednesday, August 8, said he was still in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because of two people – James Ibori and the governor of the state, Ifeanyi Okowa.
Uduaghan debunking rumors of his possible defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress said he will remain in the PDP.
He said there were high level interventions within the party that has kept him in the opposition party.
According to him, reports that he would be defecting to APC to use the party’s ticket to stand for the Delta south seat in the Senate is false.
Vanguard reports that while, Uduaghan did not refer to any particular issue that was prompting him out of the PDP, he denied claims of his concluded moves to defect to the APC
Uduaghan said: “It is not true that I would be defecting either today (Wednesday) or tomorrow, but there has been a lot of interventions going on from the likes of Chief Ibori, the governor (Okowa) and some party leaders.”
“In the last few days, they have been talking and I am listening to them. So basically, some elders have intervened on the matter, and I am listening to them.”
Also speaking, the chairman of the Delta state chapter of the APC, Jones Erue described the purported defection move by the former governor as a rumour.
Erue said: “The party in the state cannot authoritatively say they have heard about him defecting anytime soon as we have not been contacted.
“For now, just the way you heard about it as a rumour, that is how we are still hearing it as a rumour,” Erue said.
Meanwhile, TRACK NEWS earlier reported that the former minority leader of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, officially dumped the PDP on Wednesday, August 8.
Akpabio was welcomed by a huge crowd at the Ikot-Ekpene township stadium in Akwa Ibom state.
Among those present at the defection ceremony were the national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole; Senate majority leader, Ahmed Lawan; national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; and Nigeria’s minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
