Just In: PDP’s Senator Steven Odey Defects to APC after Losing Seat

• The opposition PDP in Cross River state has lost one of its chieftains, Steven Odey, to the ruling APC
• Odey who briefly served as the senator representing Cross River North defected to APC following his sack
• The election appeal tribunal had sacked Odey after rejecting his argument that he was validly sponsored by the PDP for the election

Yala LGA, Cross River state - Senator Steven Odey, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has defected to the All Progressive Congress (APC).

The Nation reported Odey was sacked from Senate in August after an election appeal tribunal rejected his argument that he was duly sponsored by the PDP for the December 5, 2020 by-election in Cross River North.

PM News also reported that the former lawmaker defected with many of his supporters in his ward, Yache, in the Yala local government area of Cross River state on Saturday, September 25.

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The event was reportedly attended by the APC bigwigs in the state, including Deputy Governor Prof. Ivara Ejemot Esu, who represented Governor Ben Ayade, APC acting chairman Sen. Matthew Mbu Jnr, commissioners, local government council chairmen and other top government functionaries.

Legit.ng gathers that Odey had spent barely nine months in the Red Chamber before he was replaced through a court judgment in favour of Senator Jarigbe A. Jarigbe also of the PDP.

In his remarks, Mbu Jnr. who received Odey, described him as the best senator to have emerged from Cross River North, saying he made an unprecedented impact within his short stint at the upper legislative chamber.

Senator Odey thanked the leadership of the APC for receiving him with an opened arm just as he also appreciated his teeming supporters in Yache and beyond for willingly accepting to defect with him to the ruling party.

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He noted that his decision to join the ruling APC was in the interest of the people he is serving because service to the people is not about the political party one belongs to.

Ex-deputy governor, 14 other APC chieftains defect to PDP in Gombe

In a related development, Lazarus Yoriyo, a former deputy governor of Gombe state, and 14 other chieftains of the ruling APC have defected to the PDP alongside their supporters.

Yoriyo said at the PDP secretariat on Saturday, September 25, that he was not impressed with the happenings in the ruling APC.

In his remarks, the chairman of the PDP in the state, Maj. Gen. Abnor Kwaskebe, lauded the determination of the defectors to retrace their steps.

Source: Legit.ng