The lawmaker representing Ahoada East Constituency I, at the Rivers State House Assembly, Martins Mannah, who was elected on the platform of People’s Democratic Party, PDP, has defected to the opposition, the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Mannah, who was a strong ally of Governor Nyesom Wike during the 2015 elections had recently lamented intimidation and poor welfare management by the speaker of the house and the governor of the state.
Mannah moved to the APC with over 3000 of his supporters in Ahoada East, noting that three years of his representation of his people that the state government has not approved any project for his constituency.
Speaking, he expressed worries that the state is being affected by being in opposition with the Federal Government in terms of development, stressing the need to align with the government at the centre.
Mannah said: “I came here to deliver a simple message and the message is that my people should accept change. Rivers State has never been in opposition and we don’t know how to play it. It does not benefit us, but we were deceived into it and we are seeing the result.
“We have followed the PDP government genuinely and with all commitment but for three years we have not seen any constituency project. I apologise for being used to lie to my people.
A lot of us in the State Assembly have been under oppression and want to move to APC. We will ensure that PDP does not win in the state come 2019.”
Meanwhile, the State Chairman of APC, Ojukaye Flag-Amachree, while receiving Mannah and the other defectors, promised that they (defectors) would not be sidelined in the activities and benefits in the party.
Flag-Amachree urged the defectors to support APC to unseat the PDP government in the state, adding that when the state re-aligns with the FG that more developments would come to the state.
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