No fewer than three people were said to have collapsed when Vice President Kashim Shettima handed over the structures of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to Governor Sheriff Oborevweri of Delta State.
Tsunami yesterday hit the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) following the official declaration of Oborevweri, his predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa, the Delta State legislators, local government council chairmen and other stakeholders to the APC.
The defectors were received by Vice president Shettima and 16 APC governors, at the Cenotaph in Asaba, the Delta State capital amid hundreds of party faithful across the 25 councils of the State.
It was a mecca of sort following the number of people milling around the venue which resulted to stampede where three persons collapsed.
They were rushed to the medical personnel at the venue but two were revived while a young man among was rushed to hospital through the standby ambulance for Medicare.
Receiving the defectors, Shettima said history was made in the South South sub -region of Nigeria following the mass defection of all PDP members to the ruling APC.
The excited Vice President described the defection as tsunami of the highest proportion as all members of the upper chamber are in the APC.
The governor and his entire cabinet, legislators, local government council chairmen and other stakeholders in the party.
According to him, the coming on board of the former PDP members to APC is an indication that we are enduring family with courage and forth sight.
“We welcome you not as a defectors but as brothers and sisters, not as guest but as a family. We always bring our difference to the round table. So, you are welcome to the party, you are not guest but a co owner of the party.
“We believe in progress, we believe in accountability, openness and transparency”, Shettima told the defectors.
He said hitherto nobody believe in the progressive but today the party is wagging stronger by the day.
“Since the formation of the party, many predictions have been written against us, some armchair critic said we go nowhere but today history had vindicated us, many people are joining the progressive to move the nation’s forward.
National chairman, Umar Ganduje urged governor Oborevweri to take control of the Delta State party structures, noting that “By the APC constitution, the governor is the leader of the party, henceforth, you are to lead the party in the State to a greater success.”
In his acceptance speech, governor Oborevweri said the PDP has been in opposition for almost ten years, and needed to be in the ruling party.
The governor who described the defection as a movement, said “you know I don’t talk, but I believe in action. What you are seeing here is a movement.
“Mr. President had shown love to us and we needed to replicate that love to him. We can not show that love from outside, so we must be inside to show the love.”
Ganduje commended President Bola Tinubu for providing good leadership in the country, saying his leadership style is yielding the desired results.
He also commended the governor and his predecessor, Okowa for the cordial relationship that exists between them since the past two years.
