Ahead of the 2023 elections, no fewer than 10,000 aggrieved members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State at the weekend dumped the party for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The aggrieved APC members, who cut across the 16 local government areas of the state, were later received into the PDP by the former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki.

The aggrieved APC members, led by Hon. Kayode Ogunlowo and Mr. Saka Babatunde, complained about the irresponsibility, poor performance and failed promises of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq-led APC government in the state.

Addressing the mammoth crowd at the country home of former Senate President, Saraki at GRA, Ilorin, the leader of the defectors, Ogunlowo said: “We had to retrace our steps as we were all deceived by cooked lies and propaganda against the former Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki.

“It’s now obvious and crystal clear that APC in 2019 was a one-chance vehicle.

“The government of APC decided to intimidate us despite working hard for them to gain power in 2019.

“The present administration led by mediocrity has not done anything despite all the billions borrowed. Kwara is our future and story, we can’t continue to let mediocrity to be running it anyhow. I and thousands of APC will work hard to elect all PDP candidates in Kwara.

“The governor decided to haul abuses on us. He decided to charge us to court and detain us in prison custody.

“As I am talking to you, majority of our members were disenfranchised during the voter registration and revalidation exercise.

“That is why we decided to leave APC for PDP. The Egypt of yesterday is better than Sudan of today. The current government has no concrete achievements to point to. Instead, it keeps up piling up debts without commensurate physical development.”

Ogunlowo stated that defecting to the PDP was not too late, adding that this is the time to join hands together and push out Governor Abdulrazaq from the Government House in 2023.

He said they are burning the brooms that symbolise poverty, insecurity and maladministration.

Receiving the aggrieved APC members to PDP, Saraki said he was confident that PDP would trounce APC at the 2023 governorship election.

Saraki based his optimism on what he described as the awful performance of the current Governor Abdulrazaq-led administration in the state in the last three years.

Saraki alleged that the 2019 ‘Otoge movement’ was a propaganda and tissues of lies used to deceive Kwarans “and send us packing.

“But Kwarans have learnt their lessons in a bitter way now. I am confident that PDP will send APC away from the Government House in 2023 by the grace of God.

“The love of Kwara informed your defection today to the PDP and we will all work together for the betterment of the state”.

The PDP Chairman in the state, Hon. Babatunde Mohammed, aligned with his leader.

Mohammed, a former speaker of the state House of Assembly, said: “By the grace of God, PDP is coming back stronger in 2023.

“We are going to win the presidential seat, all the National Assembly seats in the state and all the 24 seats at the state House of Assembly.”

He assured the defectors of a level playing field in all the party’s activities in the state.

“Residents of the state both indigenes and non-indigenes are now regretting that they mistakenly voted for the current government in 2019,” he added. (THISDAY)

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