Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s close friend, Mr. Diekivie Ikiogha, has dumped the Peoples Democratic Party for the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
Mr. Ikiogha, who is a founding member of the PDP in Bayelsa State, crossed over to the APC at an elaborate ceremony held on Saturday at the Kpansia open field in Yenagoa, the state capital. He defected with some other members of the PDP. Also, members of other political parties, including APGA, followed him to the APC.
Ikiogha, a former Bayelsa State Chief of Staff, said to be a trusted and dependable ally of Governor Seriake Dickson, is one of the brains behind the emergence of Dickson as governor in 2012.
But indications of a frosty relationship between Dickson and Ikiogha emerged when the former removed him from office in controversial circumstances and redeployed him to the state’s Abuja Liaison Office.
Ikiogha resigned in October 2014 to contest for House of Reps. He, however, did not get the ticket.
Addressing the crowd that came to witness his formal movement to the APC, Ikiogha said he decided to quit the PDP because, according to him, it is a party full of betrayals and deceits.
He said, “There is lack of internal democracy and it is a party where the highest bidders always have their way.”
Mr. Ikiogha, who is a founding member of the PDP in Bayelsa State, crossed over to the APC at an elaborate ceremony held on Saturday at the Kpansia open field in Yenagoa, the state capital. He defected with some other members of the PDP. Also, members of other political parties, including APGA, followed him to the APC.
Prominent members of the PDP that defected with him are Mr. Victor Awala, Mr. Paul Ajuwa, Mrs. D. Irene, Mr. Prince Abeki, a former commissioner, as well as over 150 former councillors from 1999 to 2012.Besides, no fewer than 43 non-governmental organisations, under the aegis New Bayelsa Initiative, also filed out with Ikiogha, whom they described as a great grass-roots mobiliser.
Ikiogha, a former Bayelsa State Chief of Staff, said to be a trusted and dependable ally of Governor Seriake Dickson, is one of the brains behind the emergence of Dickson as governor in 2012.
But indications of a frosty relationship between Dickson and Ikiogha emerged when the former removed him from office in controversial circumstances and redeployed him to the state’s Abuja Liaison Office.
Ikiogha resigned in October 2014 to contest for House of Reps. He, however, did not get the ticket.
Addressing the crowd that came to witness his formal movement to the APC, Ikiogha said he decided to quit the PDP because, according to him, it is a party full of betrayals and deceits.
He said, “There is lack of internal democracy and it is a party where the highest bidders always have their way.”
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