Francis Ogbaugu 
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday said the elected Local Government Councillors under the umbrella of the party are intact and have not defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The councillors, representing the 18 Local Government Areas of the State, converged at the PDP Secretariat in Benin City, to restate their commitment to the party, describing the recent defection claims as a ploy by Senator Monday Okpebholo to deceive the public, the President, and the APC leadership.
They were received at the party secretariat by the Chairman of the Edo PDP Caretaker Committee, Dr Anthony Aziegbemi; Secretary of the Caretaker Committee, Henry Duke Tenebe; its Publicity Secretary, Chris Osa Nehikhare; Princess Mrs Philomena Ihenyen as Political Adviser (Edo Central) to former Governor Godwin Obaseki; former Commissioner for Roads and Bridges, Ethan Uzamere, among other party leaders.
Others present at the event were 18 suspended chairmen and their vices, who also debunked the news of their defection, reassuring that their loyalty to the PDP, remained unshaken.
Receiving the councillors numbering at least 172, Aziegbemi noted that those paraded by Okpebholo yesterday as decamped legislatures were not the duly elected councilors but impostors handpicked by Okpebholo to deceive the President and the APC leadership, noting that all duly elected local government councillors on the platform of the PDP in Edo State are fully intact.
He said.
“We want to unequivocally state that all councillors elected on the platform of the PDP are fully with us and their conscience can’t be bought with money. That is why they are here today.
“So, we are asking who were those being paraded yesterday by Okpebholo as the Acting Chairmen who have joined their party if not the impostors he hired to deceive the President and the leadership of his party in order to paint a false picture showing that he is in control, whereas he has completely lost grip of the political reins in Edo State.”
In their remarks, the councillors accused Okpebholo of orchestrating illegal impeachments and superintending the extermination of constitutional democracy in the State, maintaining that the purported suspension and impeachment of duly elected council chairmen and their deputies were unconstitutional, null and void, and a blatant disregard for due process.
Hon Izekor Harrison, leader of Oredo Legislative Arm, said, “We have decided to follow Asue Ighodalo and the PDP till the very end and nothing will change it. We are united and strong and are confident that we will emerge victorious in the end. Our loyalty to the party remains unshaken.”
Harrison stated that Governor Okpebholo has cut off the salaries and allowances of him and his fellow councillors, in addition to seizing his official car, while offering them as much as ₦10 million each to defect to the APC. He however reassured that they remain committed to their party and will not betray it, no matter the inducement and intimidation.
On his part, the leader of the legislative arm of Esan West Local Council, Idiakheuan Collins, stated that he and other councillors in the LGA have not decamped and remain intact.
