In Akwa Ibom State, no less than 580 chapter and ward representatives of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have switched to the Young Progressives Party (YPP).
Following Senator Bassey Albert's conversion to YPP last month, they left PDP.
Albert is the YPP's candidate for governor and the chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Upstream.
According to Usenobong Akpabio, the head of the YPP's Defection and Inter-party Committee, the number of PDP officials defecting to YPP is rising daily.
The YPP's senate candidate for Akwa Ibom North East, Akpabio, also oversees the committee tasked with welcoming and registering people who are defecting from other parties to the YPP.
He said his committee had received 580 chapter and ward officials, who defected from the PDP at July ending.
“As at the day Obong Bassey Albert declared publicly for governor in YPP, we wanted to showcase them, but there was no opportunity to do so. As at that day (July 31), I had counted 580 officials. The defection is ongoing. A lot of officials are leaving the PDP. On August 15, two officials and a woman leader from Onna left the PDP and joined us.”
leaps and bounds in such a manner that anybody who says it doesn’t have people at the grassroots, such a person is not telling the truth. As we speak today, if PDP have their meeting, it is YPP they talk about. Any other party that holds a meeting, it is the meteoric growth of YPP they talk about.
“YPP is the fastest growing party as far as Akwa Ibom State is concerned. The grassroots is not spared. By God’s grace in all the chapters, we have offices. By the special grace of God, we have also inched into the wards, we have ward offices. In fact, people are donating their houses for ward offices.
“I don’t know how else one will say there is a grassroots appeal. I can tell you that as far as the grassroots is concerned, YPP is there,” he said.
Besides party officials, a member of the House of Representatives representing Ikono/Ini, Emmanuel Ukpong-Udo, and two members of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Mr. Usoro Akpanusoh and Mr. Nana Udo, representing Edit Eket/Ibeno and Ikono state constituencies, have also defected to the YPP.
Ex-commissioner for Works, who later served as chief of staff to the governor, Mr. Ephraim Inyang, and former commissioner for Labour and Manpower Planning, Mr. Sunny Ibuot, who resigned from the state executive council in March, have equally joined the YPP.
Two special assistants to the governor resigned their appointment in June to join the YPP.
However, PDP has started replacing the defected officials.