Former Edo PDP BoT member defects to APC

• He was a liability to PDP, says Commissioner

A former member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT) in Edo State, Charles Idahosa, yesterday, defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying that he regretted supporting Governor Godwin Obaseki four years ago.

Idahosa said that his greatest regret is stopping Obaseki from resigning in 2020 after he was frustrated out of the APC in his bid to seek reelection on the party’s platform.

Speaking to newsmen shortly after defecting to the APC at his residence in Benin City, with leaders of the party in attendance, including the Edo APC Secretary, Lawrence Okah, former Deputy Governor of Edo State, Dr. Pius Odubu, a chieftain of APC in Edo South Senatorial District, Washington Osifo, and member representing

Orhiomwon/Uhunmwonde Federal Constituency, Billy Osawaru, among others, Idahosa said that his return to the party is a homecoming. The former Commissioner for Information said that in 2020, the governor had cried to him over the ill-treatment meted out to him by his predecessor and then National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, and was considering resigning. Idahosa noted that he encouraged Obaseki to keep hope alive, stressing that he fought the battle for the governor to win his reelection.

MEANWHILE, the state government, yesterday, said that Idahosa’s defection is laughable, saying that he has no political value, describing his political belief system as “bread and butter politics.”

The Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, disclosed this to newsmen in Benin, saying that Idahosa was a liability and was never sworn in as a member of the PDP BoT.

Nehikhare said: “Idahosa was never a member of the PDP BoT. I Challenge him to this. Even though he was nominated, he was shunned by the party. It is the desperation of being shunned that has driven him back to APC, which he never left in the first place, because he was holding on to the board appointment, which he was offered while in APC prior to 2020.”