A former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Mr Moshood Salvador, on Saturday formally joined the All Progressives Congress (APC), promising to help his new party to multiply its votes in the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the ex-PDP chairman had on Aug. 27 announced his exit from the PDP following what he called irreconcilable differences with some elders of the party.
At an elaborate ceremony at the Agege Stadium, Salvador and many other defectors officially joined the APC.
Some of those who joined with him are Mr Gbenga Oshinowo, a former senatorial aspirant of the PDP; Mr Idowu Adesanya, a former member of the PDP Elders caucus in the state; and Mrs Margaret Igwe, a former national officer of the PDP.
They were received by the state Chairman of APC , Alhaji Tunde Balogun and other members of the party executive.
Salvador, addressing a crowd of APC party faithful at the event, said his joining the APC meant that the state had become a one-party state.
He said he was excited to be back in the fold of the progressives he was once belonged to.
“I thank you so much for receiving us with this glamorous celebration.
” Lagos State is now a one-party state. When we add the votes of APC and PDP in the 2015 elections, it will give us 98.08 per cent while the remaining other parties got 0.1 per cent.
“They are insignificant when we talk of political parties in Lagos State.
“The only two existing and dominant parties in Lagos State are the APC and PDP.
“Now that PDP has transformed into the progressives family, there’s no other party in Lagos.
“My responsibility, aim, goal and target in Lagos State is for APC to have 99.5 per cent votes in Lagos,” he said.
Salvador said the APC would score between 2.5 million and 3 million votes for its gubernatorial candidate and above five million for its presidential candidate in Lagos State.
” Write it down, it is is a target; it is an assignment and we are ready to work towards it and achieve it.
“That will be my contribution to support my able Chairman, Alhaji Tunde Balogun.
“I will do all humanly possible to achieve this goal so that APC will have 99 per cent of all the votes cast in Lagos State,” he said.
Salvador urged his supporters to throw away their PDP cards and register with APC across wards and local government areas in the state.
He also appealed to the people of Osun to vote for the APC candidate in the Sept. 22 governorship election to continue to enjoy the dividends of democracy.
Earlier, Balogun said the APC was glad to have Salvador and his teeming supporters in its fold.
He said the defection of the ex-PDP chairman into the party showed that the APC was the party to beat, and that PDP had been completely depleted.
Balogun described Salvador as an accomplished politician who would add value to the APC.
In his remarks, a chieftain of the party in the state, Sen. Anthony Adefuye, expressed delight that APC was waxing stronger both at the state and federal levels.
He said with the momentum the ruling party was gathering by the day, he had no doubt that the APC would surpass PDP”s 16year rule to govern the country for 32 years.
Adefuye commended Salvador for making the decision to join the APC, saying the PDP had been buried with his defection.
“Hon. Salvador in Lagos is the backbone of PDP. What we are doing today is the wake of PDP and by tomorrow, we will bury the party.
“The party is dead and buried in Lagos State,” Adefuye said.
The chieftain also expressed the confidence that the APC would win the Sept. 22 Osun gubernatorial election.
He urged party members to redouble their dedication to the party to take it to greater heights.
The high point of the ceremony was the open shredding of PDP membership cards by the defectors.(NAN)
