SOME former People’s Democratic Party, PDP, members in Delta State who moved with Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and his predecessor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, to the All Progressives Congress, APC, have, for unclear reasons, refused to resign their membership and yet, want to register as APC members.
Sources said the ongoing registration commenced on a shaky note as the APC ward leaders in parts of the state declined to register the PDP defectors, demanding evidence of their resignation from their former party.
This came as PDP members at the various wards and local government chapters of the state who rebuffed Oborevwori and Okowa’s movement to the APC, converged weekend, vowing to rebuild the PDP.
The refusal to register the new members for not presenting their resignation letters triggered some glitches in the ongoing registration process.
The development compelled the state APC, led by Elder Omeni Sobotie, to quickly intervene, instructing the ward and local government leaders to overlook the non-presentation of resignation letters.
Meanwhile, Elder Emmanuel Ogidi, the Chairman of the Zonal Caretaker of the PDP in the South-South, who is midwifing the rebirth process, told Vanguard that the state’s caretaker executive would be available in one month.
Vanguard understood that some defectors were undecided on the exercise because of the rivalry and frosty relationship between the PDP and APC members before the defection.
“This coming together is not smooth yet. The old members are afraid of the new members, while the new members are just watching,” a source revealed.
However, Mr. Valentine Onojeghuo, the APC state publicity secretary, has directed the local government and ward chairmen to register the newly defected members without any preconditions or demands, including letters of resignation from the PDP.
He said in a statement: “All party functionaries at the grassroots, local government chairmen and ward chairmen, are hereby instructed to eliminate any bureaucratic hurdles, red tape or procedural bottlenecks that may hinder the seamless registration and integration of these new members.”
Speaking to Vanguard, chairman of the APC in Ughelli North local government area, Mr. Obakpororo Onoabedje, said: “Currently, we have issued cards to ward chairmen to go and register PDP members willing to register.
“From skeletal reports, they are not forthcoming; they are foot-dragging. From what we are seeing and experiencing, the exercise is very clumsy.”
But a source said: “They only just left PDP, but registration is low-key for now. There is no stipulated time they should come and register. The registration, like Permanent Voter Card, run from morning till evening.
“They will move when the time comes; most people want to be sure. It is a gradual process. The process is slow because the people are sitting back to watch what is going to come next.
“Many don’t know what will happen, so they are sceptical. There are uncertainties, so some are reluctant.’’
The chairman of the PDP, South-South, Emma Ogidi, said he was encouraged by the rejection of the defection by many PDP members coming to express willingness to remain in the PDP.
He said he had given the party’s supporters guidelines on forming the caretaker committee, adding “I have told them to open the doors till one month before we close it.
‘’Like I told you much earlier, in one month, the caretaker committee of the PDP in the state will be ready.”
Recall that Governor Oborevwori and former Governor Okowa defected to the ruling party with the entire structure of the PDP last week, with the governor describing the development not just as defection but a movement.
The governor had said at the official declaration in Asaba, the state capital, last week: “What you have seen here today is a movement, it’ is not a defection; it’s a movement. We have done consultations with our National Assembly members, with leadership, with stakeholders at the state level, at the senatorial level, at the local government level, at the ward level and we all decided that we must all join.
“This is Delta State; we cannot carry last. When we stand for something, we remain committed to it; we have been in opposition for almost 10 years.
“Do we need that? Mr. President has supported us; he has shown us love. We cannot face him in 2027 to work against him. That love that he has shown to us in Delta State, we need to reciprocate it.
“We cannot do it in our own party. We have to be inside to do it, and to do it well. When you consult widely you see everybody will come with you and you can see that the love is organic: you can see my relationship with governors; you see all the governors here.
“You see the large number of governors: yesterday nine came and slept over. Today, see all of them here. I want to bless all of you; I want to thank all of you.
“This is a movement, this is not a defection; we have agreed we will move together and when we move together, what is at the national we will be able to grab it.
“Our members in the National Assembly are the next; they have agreed they will all defect on the floor of the house, and we have justification to move.
“All of us want to be in the Renewed Hope Agenda, which is in line with my M.O.R.E Agenda. For us in Delta State, it’s a statement and I believe other governors will join because it’s a movement and when you have a movement, you don’t fail.”
No lawsuit filed against Delta defectors yet
Although the PDP threatened to go to court to challenge the defection of its members in Delta State, Vanguard learned yesterday that it was yet to do so.
A member of the party’s National Working Committee, NWC, who was present at the meeting last Tuesday when the decision was taken, told Vanguard weekend in Abuja, said the party’s National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade, was making preparations to pursue the case in court.
“We’re focused on reclaiming our mandate. We intend to seek court declarations for the seats of the defectors to be declared vacant, in line with constitutional provisions,” the NWC member stated.
He clarified that, for the time being, the party’s legal efforts would be focused solely on Delta State, with no immediate plans to take similar action in other states.
Although the decision to proceed with legal action was reached on Tuesday, the public holiday on Thursday, coupled with the lack of a follow-up meeting by Friday, may have delayed the formal filing of court papers.
“The decision was taken only on Tuesday. Thursday was a public holiday and we didn’t reconvene on Friday. We expect further briefings at the next meeting,” the source said.