Gbenga Edema, one of the aspirants who contested the April 20 gubernatorial primaries of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ondo State, has picked the governorship ticket of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP.
Edema, a former Chairman of the Ondo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission, OSOPADEC, emerged as the NNPP candidate after he was ratified during a substitution governorship primary of the party held in Akure, the state capital.
The former candidate of the party, Oluwatosin Ayeni, withdrew from the governorship race a few weeks after polling 100 votes to defeat his sole rival, Prof Ibrahim Ajagunna, at the party’s primary on April 26.
According to Edema, who represented the state on the governing board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, the decision to quit the ruling APC was due to the lack of internal democracy in the party.
He noted that internal democracy was robust in the NNPP.
“I have carefully studied the manifesto of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), which has been skillfully put together by some great minds, and I have found out that a great deal aligns with our vision as encapsulated in the Igbega Ondo manifesto,” he said.
“The demise of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is just around the corner, like its sister, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), from which it took over the reign of power.
“It is on this note that I hereby formally announce my resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC) forthwith.
“I hereby pitch my tent with the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), a truly progressive and people-oriented party. This is a party for the immediate future.
“We therefore use this medium to serve a notice to quit to Governor Lucky Orimisan Ayedatiwa and his APC cohorts that, effective February 24, 2025, the Government House, Alagbaka, will no longer be available for their use.
“With the NNPP, we are providing a more veritable and people-oriented government to all the good people of Ondo State, as captured in our manifesto, which will be made available in due course.”
