TRACKING____NO fewer than eighty-seven elected councillors in Edo State have vowed to resist the harassment and official intimidation meted out to them by Governor Godwin Obaseki to force them to join his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The councillors, most of whom were elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissed claim of their defection to the PDP, allegedly sponsored by Obaseki to portray false solidarity, while insisting that Edo governor’s performance since 2016 had neither inspired confidence nor provided motivation for them to join in his defection.
The councillors, through their spokesperson, Emwinghare Osabuohien, of Ward 2, Egor Local Government, condemned their suspension, which they deemed illegal and the refusal of the state government to pay their salaries over the expression of their constitutionally-protected freedom to associate and maintain membership of a preferred party (APC).
Other councillors, including Okpamen Angela, representing Ovia West, Kingsley Ogiri and Godwin Ekhator vowed to remain resolute in fighting for the victory of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, APC’s governorship candidate.
They disclosed that the few APC councillors, who defected to the PDP, caved in to the pressure and intimidation of Obaseki’s administration.
