I AM A CITIZEN OF PDP~Chief Arenyeka

By: Peter Legacy 

The dominant party in Delta state remains upbeat and resilient in the face of rumoured defections greeting the polity. The party leadership in the state has maintained that there is no defection from Delta State Peoples Democratic Party.

Chief Solomon Arenyeka, the state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, had during his address to the Integrity Group, Delta State, on Wednesday, at the state party Secretariat, emphasized that there is no truth to the rumours of defection. “Those you see defecting, already defected long ago ahead of the elections, ” Chief Arenyeka said .

” As members of the party, you may be hearing rumours, you may be hearing stories. I want you to discountenance all those rumours. Anything you are not sure of, come to ask us here. People are decamping, we know those that are decamping.Those decamping are people that have already decamped before, they are only formalizing their decamp.

So all those that are decamping are those who have decamped before. They decamped at night before, now they are formalizing it in the day time. 

~ Chief Arenyeka

If you realize in the last election, many people did anti-party. At a stage there was a spate of suspension, but in the spirit of forgiveness, in the spirit of togetherness, that is only found in PDP, we said; leave them, in the appropriate time, they will show their true colours. So all those that are decamping are those who have decamped before. They decamped at night before, now they are formalizing it in the day time.

People are decamping into this party everyday. We are not wicked, we are not vindictive. If you want to go, go! If you want to come in, our doors are wide open. If you go to their meetings, you see government cars all over the place. They have decamped but they are going about, and to meetings with our cars. But in the spirit of magnanimity, in the spirit of a winner, we allow them. We could seize them, but we don’t want to do so.

Before the last elections people were resigning everyday, even on social media. At the end of the day what was the result? 23/25 ! So I want you to keep faith with the party, do what you can do for the party, do the good one you know you can do for the party, at the appropriate time the blessings of  being in the party will be with you.

We have been here, we have not decamped. In 1998 when we met at PTI to form the party, I was there. At times I have positions, sometimes I don’t have  position. The most important thing is that I have always remained a member of the party. Today I am chairman of the party. I am not just a member of PDP, I am a citizen of PDP. Membership and citizenship are two different things. Sometimes, you want something you don’t get it, you get annoyed and leave. Where you go to, you are a second player and not the first.

I want to admonish that you keep the flag flying, remain consistent so that by 2027, four plus four will become a done deal.”