It was a massive crowd of supporters and loyalist who trooped out en mass as former SDP governorship candidate in Kogi State, Barr. Natasha Akpoti on Saturday declared for the PDP.
Akpoti was received into the umbrella party by top members of the National Working Committee of the party (PDP) led by National Chairman, Senator Dr Iyorchia Ayu.
Sen. Ayu was ably represented by the National Secretary *Senator Samuel Nnaemeka Anyanwu, who was in Kogi state to welcome Barr. Natasha H Akpoti into the PDP with his crowd of supporters.
Natasha hinged her action on the weak structure of her former party arguing that the SDP lacked such structure that was being pulled by the PDP.
“I’ve come to realise some mistakes in the past elections I held, which was the Senate and the Kogi Governorship election, 2019.
“I’ve realised that popularity alone does not help. The party structure helps a lot. From the result of the Senate Kogi Central in 2019, I, in SDP, had about 48,300 votes while the PDP sitting senator Ogembe, had 18,100. That means I defeated the sitting Senator, with over 30,000 votes, and then you begin to wonder what happened.
“Ordinarily, I would have had about 67,000 or 70,000 votes or much more. But I didn’t have strong Polling Unit agents. Even, Ogembe, the little he had, he was able to secure.
“Systemic organization goes a long way in helping any candidate,” She told The PUNCH.
Natasha noted that if she was going to contest again, she needed to do something about the issue of structure.
“So I asked myself, what I would do if I were to contest again,” she said.
Natasha noted how she had been the single person maintaining the SDP structure.
“It’s extremely difficult for a single person to maintain structures across the state.
“I was the most formidable person in SDP in the whole country. I was supporting the national; I was supporting many other states that were calling on me. I had to bear the burden of the entire Kogi state SDP,” she said.
“As at the time I contested, there weren’t more than 2,000 card-carrying members of the SDP, and you begin to ask where the 38,000 votes came from,” Natasha said.
She noted that it was because people from other political parties came out to vote for her, but they could not stand for her at the polling units to defend her votes.
When asked what her followers’ fates were upon her defection to another party, she said that she was still the same Natasha Akpoti.
According to her, I’m still the same Natasha, still carrying the same vision, with the same vigour and same character, just much better. I’m still counting on their support.
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