The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has strongly refuted recent media claims suggesting that over 100 party members from Igalamela Odolu Local Government Area have defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a statement issued by the PDP Chairman in Igalamela Odolu Local Government, Attai Ndanusa Salifu, he dismissed the alleged defections as a fabricated scenario. Salifu clarified that the gathering of party members at the Government House, where they were received by Kogi State Governor Alhaji Yahaya Bello, was nothing more than a staged event. He emphasized that no member of the PDP from his Local Government had actually moved to the APC.

Salifu urged the public to disregard such reports, attributing them to mischievous elements who are apprehensive about the growing popularity of the PDP leading up to the November Governorship election in Kogi State.

The PDP Chairman further revealed that the PDP ward chairmen of Ajaka Ward 1 and Ward 2, Anthony Abu and Achema Amodu, respectively, had received an apology from one of the party members, Ndah Salifu. Ndah Salifu admitted that they were deceived into visiting the Government House by certain desperate politicians loyal to the APC.

Salifu elaborated, “Some of our party members from Igalamela Odolu Local Government were on their way to the PDP Secretariat in Lokoja for an official political meeting. Some members of the APC, viewing us as fellow brethren, requested a dialogue in the best interest of the Local Government and Kogi State at large. Despite their political affiliations, our members heeded the call. However, upon reaching the Government House, these desperate APC politicians presented them to Governor Bello, falsely claiming that they were PDP members who defected from Igalamela Odolu Local Government. Even the PDP chairmen of Ajaka one and two were astonished by this turn of events.”

Salifu affirmed that the PDP remains united and formidable in Igalamela-Odolu Local Government. He reiterated the party’s unwavering support for the candidacy of Senator Dino Melaye and his running mate, Hajia Habiba Deen, as they aim to assume leadership at Lugard House on November 11, 2022.

According to Salifu, the PDP is poised to secure a resounding victory in the Local Government to rescue Kogi State from what they perceive as the alleged mismanagement under the ruling APC.