Cracks In Bayelsa APC As Ex-Chair, 5,000 Others Join PDP

A former chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State, Chief Tiwei Orunimiye, on Saturday led over 98 leaders and 5000 members of the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party.

Those who defected to the APC included a serving lawmaker representing Brass 2 Constituency in the House of Assembly, Hon. Alfred Watson, President Buhari’s representative in Ogbia local government area in the 2015 elections, Chief Orifie Ene, the chairman of the Bayelsa Waterways, Akparasia Africa, and 98 leaders of the party in the state.

A statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media Relations, Fidelis Soriwei, stated that the APC defectors were received at the Oxbow Lake Pavillion, Yenagoa.

Governor Seriake Dickson at the political crossover said that the latest batch of decampees from the APC signifies the death of the APC in the state.

He stressed that the 98 leaders of the APC led into the PDP by the former chairman of the party represented the soul of the opposition party which gave the PDP a fight for the governorship of the state in 2015.

He said, “We welcome Chief Tiwei Oruminiye, our brother Africa, our member in House of Assembly, Hon. Alfred Watson, Chief Gita and indeed the 98 leaders and over 5000 members of the APC to the PDP.

“With what has happened, we have already brought down the APC in Bayelsa. These are the original owners of the APC and they represented the soul of the APC.

“These were the people who engaged us in the fight for the governorship of the state in 2012. They tried their best but we were too much for them.

“Although I don’t intend to mention names, I know that the person they worked for should be grateful to these people. Everywhere we went during the election, these were the people that we saw.

“When they were doing the fraud in Oporoma, these were the people we saw. The APC does not have a life with the defection of these people to our party.”

He called on the few remaining members of the party who were opposed to cultism, violence and were interested in the development of Bayelsa to dump the APC which a described as a haven for cultists and violent people.

Speaking also at the event, the former Chairman of the APC, Chief Tiwei Orunimiye, said that he alongside others brought the APC to Bayelsa but decided to dump it because it lacks mission and vision.

He described the leader of the party in the state, Chief Timipre Silva, as a businessman rather than a politician.

The former APC chief said that Bayelsa would not opt for cultism in place of good and creative leadership provided by Governor Dickson.

In his address, the state chairman of the PDP, Chief Moses Cleopas, described the APC as party that was not only dead in the state but would also die at the national level.

He urged members of the PDP to exploit their leadership qualities to win elections for the PDP in the state.