Former APC National Chairman joins ADC

Former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and ex-Governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has officially joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Oyegun received his ADC membership card on Tuesday in Benin City, the Edo State capital, where he formally registered with the party. The membership card was presented to him by the ADC State Chairman, Kennedy Odion.

While welcoming Oyegun into the party, Odion noted that the former APC chairman is no stranger to building political coalitions. He recalled Oyegun’s pivotal role in forming the coalition that gave birth to the APC in 2013, which went on to defeat the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 general elections.

“He has put together what is called a coalition before, and he succeeded. So, in mathematics, once you understand the formula, the answer is in view. So, he understands how he did it before, so doing it again is not a difficult task,” Odion said.

“So as God may have it, he is not from any other state but from the heartbeat of this nation, Edo State, and we are moving the coalition together. He was the chairman of the implementation committee that decided that ADC would be the platform.”

Speaking on his defection, Oyegun said the ADC emerged as the most credible party after thorough consultations with several political groups.

“We talked to a lot of parties, about seven of them. Up till the very last minute. We made a report and we said ADC. And some said, ‘No, no, no, you must still talk to this, you must still talk to that.’

“So, we delayed the decision for another fortnight. At the end of our meeting, we still came back. I said, ‘yes, what you ask us to do, we have done. We have talked to the others, but we have not seen a party as dedicated as the ADC,” Oyegun said.

With this move, Oyegun becomes one of the most prominent political figures to join the ADC in recent times.