Why we dump PDP for APC — Okowa

Former Governor of Delta State and running mate to Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Ifeanyi Okowa has exited the party for the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

The State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, who announced his and predecessor’s defection on Wednesday, said their decisions to join APC was in the interst of state’s long term development.

The governor’s spokesman, Festus Ahon, who confirmed the defection, said the governor took the decision after extensive consultations with political stakeholders in the state.

Governor Oborevwori, who won the 2023 gubernatorial election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was received by senior APC officials in what political analysts described as a strategic realignment ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Senator representing Delta South, James Manager, who also confirmed the defection after the Government House meeting, said all members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Delta State had defected to the All Progressives Congress.

He said, “All PDP members in the state, including the governor, former Governor Okowa, the Speaker, the state party chairman, all the local government chairmen and others, have agreed to move to the APC.”

Daily Commerce recall that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested Okowa arrested on November 4, 2024 for alleged diversion of N1.3 trillion 13% derivation fund from the federation account between 2015 and 2023 and other for other fraud allegations when he was the state governor.