APC’s big welcome: Ganduje, Okpebholo, Ebie lead party chieftains in receiving DUG members

Stanley Ihedigbo

Top-tier politicians, including All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Edo State Governor Senator Monday Okpebholo, and Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Governing Board Chairman Chiedu Ebie, are set to welcome members of the Delta Unity Group (DUG) to the ruling party.

The high-profile welcome underscores the APC’s efforts to solidify its presence in Delta State, potentially altering the state’s political landscape.

The DUG, known for its significant grassroots influence, is believed to be a key player in Chief James Ibori’s camp, and their move to APC might significantly impact the state’s political dynamics, possibly paving the way for APC’s total capture of Delta State.

According to the statement by Ebie’s Media Aide, Jerome-Mario Utomi, the event slated for Saturday, in Agbor, Delta state, would have the National Chairman of the APC and Governor Okpebholo as a special guest of honours.

Described as a major political earthquake, the switch to the APC by members of the DUG, watchers of Delta politics posit, will significantly alter the balance of party dominance in the state as the group is majorly peopled by hardcore Peoples Democratic Party, PDP grassroots politicians who have been the life wire of the party in Delta since the return of democracy 26 years ago.

According to the statement “the DUG, defection to APC is part of honest, strategic and concerted efforts by the Patriots in Delta to rescue the state from the harrowing and inept leadership of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).

The statement further recalls that “Ebie who was suspended by the PDP for a trumpet anti-party activities, and afterward, in August 2023 joined the APC, party insiders and stakeholders stress, has engraved his name in the hearts of Deltans with life-changing projects”

DUG, a PanDelta political association promoting unity and brotherliness within the political landscape of Delta State, has Ebie, a former Delta State Former Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education and Secretary to the State Government (SSG) respectively as Co-convener.

Since 2023 when it was birthed, DUG has through persistent promotion of objective inclusivity and participatory democracy, people focussed leadership anchored on equity, justice, fairness and other collaborative efforts made great inroad in Delta state political landscape, and presently has in its kits well over 5,000 registered members in Ika Federal Constituency alone.