Osagie Otabor, Benin
A FORMER Edo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate is weighing his political options, including the possibility of joining the All Progressives Congress (APC), it was learnt on Monday.
Pastor Ize-Iyamu was Secretary to the Edo State Government during the administration of former Governor Lucky Igbinedion.
He joined others to form the Grace Group which metamorphosed into the defunct Action Congress (AC).
Ize-Iyamu left the ACN in 2015 after it dawned on him that Oshiomhole was not ready to support his governorship ambition.
Already, supporters of Ize-Iyamu have taken to the social media to celebrate his expected exit from the PDP.
Sources close to Ize-Iyamu said he might join the APC to battle for the governorship ticket with the support of the Edo Peoples Movement, a pressure group working to unseat Governor Godwin Obaseki.
Other persons seeking EPM support for APC ticket are Gen. Charles Airhiavbere, Chris Ogiemwonyi and Solomon Edebiri.
Some Edo PDP members who celebrated the planned exit of Ize-Iyamu from the PDP, said the party’s plan for next year’s governorship poll did not favour him.
They said the failed plot to remove Chief Dan Orbih as the PDP state chairman before the party primaries was part of the reason Ize-Iyamu opted to leave.
In an earlier interview, Ize-Iyamu said: “If you ask me my political direction, I leave it in the hands of God because I’m not in any way desperate for power. Everything I do, I try to let God direct me. In my political life also I have made it a point of duty to put the people first”.
Read Also: Why I slept in INEC office for two days, by Ize-Iyamu
When contacted on Monday, Pastor Ize-Iyamu said he would keep our correspondent informed if he decided to defect.
The Convener of EPM, Henry Idahagbon, dismissed talks that Ize-Iyamu had caused a crack within the group.
Idahagbon urged Governor Godwin Obaseki to start packing out of the Edo Government House.
He said: “Ize-Iyamu is a founding father of the defunct Action Congress. All the other aspirants are happy with him.”
A former Speaker of the Edo Assembly, Thomas Okosun, said the EPM are members of the APC and should Ize-Iyamu join them, it would not divide the group.
Hon Ojo Asein said Governor Obaseki defeated Ize-Iyamu in previous elections and would defeat him again.
He said Obaseki had achieved a lot to earn him a second term ticket.
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