No fewer than 1,650 members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, have dumped the ruling party in Edo State.

The members, from the 12 wards of Oredo Local Government Area of the State, resigned their membership of the party yesterday.

Spokesman of the former APC members, Omo-Osagie Efosa, who addressed journalists in Benin City, the state capital, pointed out that they decided to resign their membership of the party because the “change mantra,” which was what brought them into the party had failed.

Omo-Osagie also listed the undemocratic manner in which the party was run by the state leadership and the “cabal like manner“ in which cronies and political jobbers were secretly anointed by some party leaders to conduct the last congresses in the state as part of their reasons.

Omo-Sagie further claimed that during the party’s council primaries, of which he was a front runner for the chairman in Oredo LGA, he was arm-twisted and edged out of the race after he had paid for and collected nomination form.

He said, “They secretly selected councillors and chairmen as candidates for the election and were not allowed to face the electorate in the primaries.

“Even when there were complaints that some leaders were collecting huge sums of money from aspirants, the party blatantly refused to entertain the complaints nor did it investigated them to give victims the needed justice.”