KEY POINTS

• Rivers Deputy Governor Ngozi Odu has defected from the PDP to the APC
• Odu completed her registration in Ogba Egbema Ndoni and toured six zones to mobilise residents
• Hundreds of Labour Party members also switched allegiance during the visit

Another significant change in the political landscape of Rivers State is the official departure of Professor Ngozi Odu, the deputy governor, from the People’s Democratic Party to join the All Progressives Congress.

Her defection occurs just weeks after the majority of Rivers lawmakers and Governor Siminalayi Fubara joined the APC, sparking a wave of political realignments throughout the oil-rich state.

On Sunday, Odu finished registering her party at Ogba Egbema Ndoni Local Government Area’s Akabuka, Ward Eight, Unit Eleven. Later, in order to educate locals about the ongoing APC eregistration process, she set out on a tour of the council’s six zones.

Mobilisation drive across six zones

Soon after registering, Odu told community members and party stakeholders that the governor’s decision to join the ruling party did not stop the APC registration drive.

She called on locals to sign up in large numbers as a demonstration of support for Governor Fubara and President Bola Tinubu, characterising the action as a calculated attempt to strengthen political power at the local level.

She said that in order to promote involvement, meetings had already been held in the zones of Egi, Omoku, Osomini, Igburu, Egbema, and Ndoni.

The deputy governor characterized the response she got as proof of the APC’s increasing local acceptance and trust in the current state and federal leadership. The visit strengthened the APC’s base in Ogba Egbema Ndoni, according to a statement released on Monday in Port Harcourt by Owupele Benebo, head of the Press Unit in the Office of the Deputy Governor.