At a brief ceremony in Benin City, at the weekend, Mr. Aisowieren said he was decamping to the Action Congress to join the governor of the state, Adams Oshiomhole, and his team to develop the state.

“I appreciate the good works of the state governor and I want to work with him and his team to develop Edo State” he said.

According to him, in the next few weeks, there will be a crusade organized by his numerous supporters in his constituency where they will all publicly declare their support for the AC.

Mr. Oshiomhole who, on behalf of the AC, welcomed the lawmaker to the party and thanked him for the confidence reposed in the state government and the AC.

“I have often maintained that the essence of political engagement is to create open participation and our democratic culture must accord respect to each and every one and it must be based on the principles that the people are the king,” he said.

The governor reiterated that everybody was considered as family in the AC irrespective of when they joined the party, and assured Mr. Aisowieren that, “You have all rights, duties, obligations and there are no discriminations on account of when you join the party.”

Working together

Mr. Oshiomhole disclosed that it is the expectation of the people of Edo State that, “we all work together to sustain the pace of development going on across the state, which we have started and may God bless us for our disposition to reposition our state.”

Speaker of the State of Assembly, Bright Omokhodion, described the defection of Aisowieren from the PDP to the AC as a very fundamental step towards freedom.

“This is to state the fact that we are ruled by the concern for our people because the House of Assembly is a selected representation of the people,” he said.

While welcoming the former PDP member to the AC, on behalf of the members and principal officers, the Speaker said that Mr. Aisowieren’s decision to return to the fold of the progressives was personal to him, adding that he chose a divine calling because he is a true representative of the people.

“We are all embracing progress in Edo State and we are expecting more decampees from the PDP to the AC,” he said.

Mr. Aisowieren was among the 11 lawmakers that have stayed away from house proceedings since the sack of the principal officers of house headed by former speaker Zakarwanu Garuba and other PDP members in the house.