Ex-rep member denies defection from APC

Former member of the House of Representatives for Ovia Federal Constituency in Edo, Isaac Osahon, has denied a report that he had defected from the All Progressives Congress.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the former federal lawmaker, at a press conference in Benin on Friday, denied the report which was already circulating in the media.
Osahon said that his grievances with the party had not degenerated to him defecting from the party to the Reformed-APC, as being speculated.
He said: “I am not a member of R-APC, I am a member of APC, I am still a member of APC.
“I am not also a member of the Kwakwanso group that describe itself as Kwakwansiyya, and I have not dumped my party.
“Up till as I speak, I am still a member of APC. What is probably miscarried in their information, is not supposed to be for the media.
“It is true that I am aggrieved because of certain happenings in APC and I bared my mind.
“I told members of my party and the leadership that I am not happy about certain things and they are already looking into it.
“I have met with the secretary of the party and some others who belong to the leadership group and I have made my mind known to them.
“And they have set machinery in motion to ensure that this matter is resolved.”
In a related development, Governor Godwin Obaseki has denied being responsible for the defection of some Kwakwasiyya members in the state.
A statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, said: “The focus of Gov. Obaseki is governance and getting the dividends of democracy to the ordinary Edo people”.
He added: “While he holds every member of the political party in high esteem, his first loyalty is to the Edo masses. They are the ones whose mandate he carries and they always come first.”
NAN recalls that some alleged aggrieved members of the APC, led by Chief Osamede Adun, had announced their defection from the party in Benin on Thursday.
They cited leadership style of the governor and lack of political patronage as reasons for their defection.