702 members of the Labour Party, All Progressives Grand Alliance, People’s Redemption Party, and the Peoples Democratic Party in Makera Constituency of Kaduna-South Local Government Area of the State have defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress, with a commitment to support the party to win the October 19 local government elections.
The defectors, which included a former State House of Assembly candidate for Makera Constituency, women and youth leaders in Kaduna-South Local Government, were received by the Local Government Party Chairman, Ibrahim Soso, and the Chairman of the occasion, a former Senator representing Kaduna-North, Senator Lawal Aliyu at the Monday Market, in Kakuri Gwari.
In his remarks, Soso assured the defectors of equal opportunities in the APC, irrespective of their new memberships, and advised them to work and vote for all the APC candidates in the October 19 Local Government Council elections.
“We’re convinced that Kaduna-South will vote for our party the APC and we’re confident that the main opposition PDP is dead here”, he stated.
In their separate remarks, Ayok Danboyi, a former candidate for Makera State House of Assembly Constituency, and Yunana Bala, a chieftain of the PDP, who spoke on behalf of the defectors, said their defection was necessitated by the leadership style of the Executive Vice Chairman of the Local Government, Nehemiah Baba-Karik and Governor Uba Sani, who focus on uniting the people of the state as against the normal tradition.
According to them, the daily depletion of their parties’ membership in Kaduna-South was an indication that the main opposition party would soon go into extinction even before the Local Government general elections.
They pledged to work hard ahead of the local government general elections slated for October 19, 2024.
The Executive Vice Chairman of Kaduna-South Local Government Area, Nehemiah Baba-Karik, described their step as a “wise decision” and assured them that they would not be left behind in the scheme of things.
“You will not be left behind in the scheme of things as you have now become part of us. You will observe that the Governor has demonstrated capacity and genuine leadership in promoting good governance”, he said.