Edo gov: 1,000 ACN, ANPP members defect to PDP

One thousand members of both the Action Congress of Nigeria and All Nigeria Peoples Party defected to the Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State on Saturday.

Edo PDP chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, who received the new members promised that the party would cut tax by 80 per cent if voted in.

Addressing the new members at the Garrick Memorial Primary School ground, Orbih added that the PDP if voted into power on July 14, when the governorship election will hold in the state, would reduce school fees at the state-owned Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, to N18. 000.

He said, “We have consulted with tax experts, after which the party has become convinced that the tax burden imposed on the people of Edo is unacceptable.

“If elected into office come July 14, one of the first steps that will be taken by the PDP government is to cut tax by 80 per cent and reduce school fees at the Ambrose Alli University to N18, 000.

“The ACN government has put a tax burden on the people of Edo, to the extent that ordinary hair dressers and other artisans can no longer operate profitably in the state.”

Speaking in Bini dialect, the party’s governorship candidate, Maj-Gen Charles Airhiavbere (retd), promised to clear arrears of teachers’ minimum wage if elected into office.

He said, “It is part of my declaration to clear the arrears of teachers’ minimum wage, establish a university of technology in Ikpoba-Okha and give immediate employment to 20, 000 Edo youths, immediately I come into office.”