Ahead of the 2027 election, scores of the opposition political leaders and members have defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Iguobazuwa, Ovia South West Local Government area of the State.

The defection which occurred in the council area of the Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon Dennis Idahosa saw the defectors attributing reasons for their defection to the entrenchment of good governance by the Okpebholo-led administration, less than two years.

A statement by Chief Press Secretary to the deputy governor, Friday Aghedo, quoted the deputy governor as saying that, “politics is all about delivering electoral promises to the people.”

Idahosa urged all members of the party, both new and old, to capitalise on the gains of the “Renewed Hope Agenda,” of President Tinubu by logging into the open APC E-registration portal to authenticate their party membership.

To the defectors, the deputy governor reminded them that their coming would lead to the fulfilment of the promised 2.5 votes to the President in 2027.

“We should go back to our various units and start to preach the renewed hope agenda message to our people.

“Again, we have about seven days to go before the portal for registration closes on January 30. As a bona fide member of the APC, you have the constitutional right of a card-carrying member of the APC that allows you to elect executives right from your unit to the national level.

“It is important to have the registration slip, which confers us with the authority of being APC members,” he stated.

Idahosa commended Ovia South West Council Chairman, Hon. Nosakhare Edobor, for opening up the hinterlands and bringing visible development to the doorstep of the people, which has helped convince them to voluntarily align with the vision of the APC to help drive in more development.

Similarly, the party chairman in the local government, Mr Emmanuel Ogbomo, urged the new members not to miss out on the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).

Other APC leaders at the event were the Sports Commission Chairman, Hon. Amadin Desmond Enabulele, Edo State House of Assembly Member, Hon. Sunny Aghedo and a host of other leaders.