2023: More Tolofari Loyalists Dump APC, Join PDP In Rivers

Over 300 members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) across Rivers State under the auspices of Grassroots Movement of Rivers State, last Thursday, defected from their former party to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The decampees led by the Coordinator of the group, Norisha Pepple, who made the renunciation at the PDP secretariat in Port Harcourt, said their decision was informed by the quality leadership Governor Nyesom Wike was giving to Rivers people.
Pepple said their action was also in solidarity with their Patron, George Tolofari, who had earlier moved to the PDP, assuring that they would do all they can to ensure victory for PDP candidates in the 2023 elections in the state.
Speaking earlier, the Patron of the group, George Tolofari reiterated that members of the various political parties in the state, especially the APC, were coming to the PDP in their numbers due to the exceptional leadership qualities of Governor Nyesom Wike.
According to Tolofari, he left the APC because the PDP, which he described as a credible party, has found an Ibani son worthy to fly its Gubernatorial flag, saying that the gesture was more than edifying to him.
Receiving the decampees, the State Chairman of the PDP, Amb Desmond Akawor, hailed them for the bold and courageous step taken to dump their former party, saying that they could not have done otherwise following the failed promises by the leader of the APC in the state.
“You were once PDP members before somebody gave you sweet talks and told you that it will be one Naira to a Dollar; that there will be a deep sea port in Bonny; that there will be railway lines from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri; and you waited and you didn’t see those things; and you said no, the only thing you need to do is to come back home because the man that made a promise that there will be Oil and Gas Polytechnic in Bonny, made it happen. The man that told you that Bonny National Grammar School will be rebuilt made it happen. And for that reason, you need to follow the man thatis experienced and the man who has spoken before and it happened”, Akawor stated.
Quoting the statements of AkwaIbom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, recently, “All politics is local, leave Abuja and go to your state to deliver your party”, Akawor maintained that that was exactly what the PDP in the state was doing.
He argued that there was basically something that the PDP has that the other political parties donot have, which accounted for the mass movement from them to the Peoples Democratic Party.
He also used the forum to explain that the Governorship candidate of the party, Siminialayi Fubara, emerged on the basis of fairness, justice and equity to the three senatorial districts of the state.
“Ordinarily, go and check the voting strength, you will see that it would have been difficult for an Ibani man to be governor but because there has to be fairness, everybody has to be fair to the other, and there has to be equity and justice. The same cry our leader is crying at the national level that we should all be fair to one another. Not because you think you have the number, others should be muzzled, others should be squeezed out. If not for such decision, it should have been difficult for an Ibani son to emerge as governor because the number is not there”, he said.
Akawor enjoined the people at the grassroots to support what the leadership of the state was doing, saying that the party would continue to receive those who were returning to it because the other party had totally collapsed.
While commending Governor Nyesom Wike for making Rivers people proud through his exemplary leadership qualities and exceptional performance, the state PDP chairman called on the people to support the governor to achieve a successful transition.
The decampees were, thereafter, received formally by the chairman and the entire leadership of the party after being presented with the Umbrella, the symbol of the PDP.
The Secretary of the party, Dr Benibo George, expressed gratitude to the returnees for their conviction that the PDP was the only credible alternative, following the failure of the APC in the state.
He observed that the returnees have also demonstrated good followership by aligning with the decision of their leader to join the PDP.
Representatives of the three senatorial districts and the women delivered solidarity speeches at the event, corroborating their readiness to add value and not only numbers to the PDP.