[caption id="attachment_8974" align="alignright" width="340"] Ikimi: destination PDP[/caption] A former Nigerian foreign minister under the tyrannical regime of General Sani Abacha has abandoned the opposition All Progressives Congress. He is believed to be on his way to rejoining the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, his old party. Chief Tom Ikimi had threatened to jump ship after the convention of the APC in Abuja in June. Ikimi wanted to become the pioneer chairman of the APC, but the party leadership backed Chief John Odigie Oyegun, a man with unassailable 'progressive credentials'. Oyegun and Ikimi hail from Edo state, where Adams Oshiomhole, the former labour leader is the governor. Frustrated, Ikimi said he would leave and in recent weeks, he had been making critical remarks about the leadership of APC. Ikimi who was the former chairman of the defunct National Republic Convention, the party that helped scuttle the June 12, 1993 election, said in a letter to the leadership of APC on Tuesday that he was withdrawing his membership of the party. “I have made the decision to withdraw my membership from the All Progressives Congress (APC) from today, 27th August 2014,″ Ikimi said in the letter. It is not clear if, like others before him, the Edo State high chief will be joining the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. The former minister of foreign affairs did not indicate his next political move in the letter. He was not just a former member of Nigeria ruling party, he was also Chairman PDP National Convention Presidential Election Panel in January 2003. Meanwhile, Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has described the defection of some prominent members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as a blessing in disguise, saying that the defectors did not have the interest of Edo people at heart. At a meeting with leaders of the party in Edo South in Benin City on Tuesday, Oshiomhole said the party came out stronger when the defectors excused themselves from it. "After the party registration, ward, Local, State Congresses and National Congresses, this is the first meeting we are having with you and I think it is a very important meeting and I am happy that you have come here and there is no struggling at the gate about accreditation or fighting. It shows how disciplined our leaders are at the grass root level. "The APC is much stronger now than before because those who are in this party now are people who are here not because of what is in it for them; or what is in it for me and this is what distinguishes this party from others. People are in this party now because they believe in the ideals of APC. The meeting will be sustained as a means of evaluating the activities of the party at the grassroots and bridge the communication gap among members," he said. He disclosed that the APC government is working assiduously across the State stressing that the state government would not relent in its efforts towards taking the state to the next level. [caption id="attachment_1141" align="alignright" width="600"] Gov. Adams Oshiomhole: party stronger after defectors left[/caption] "Let me reassure party leaders here this afternoon from the 77 wards of Edo South that the APC government under my watch will continue to work for the people in spite of the lean financial resources, especially the drop in the federal allocation to the state," he said. Earlier in his welcome address, State Chairman of the party, Anslem Ojezua, welcomed party leaders from Edo South, saying that "the journey to 2015 is about to begin and INEC has started the process of the distribution and issuance of the Permanent Voters’ Cards in some parts of the country," he said, adding that in a short time, it would be the turn of Edo State and that it would be the very first major step towards the general elections of February, 2015. "We positioned this aspect of service as the most important because without that PVC, even the registered voters cannot vote hence the Governor has decided to take it upon himself to personally brief you on the importance that we attach to this aspect of our political map," he said.