The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Ogun State has urged residents to remain vigilant after casting their votes and follow the electoral process through to the collation centres to safeguard their ballots.

The party said voters should not leave polling units immediately after voting but should remain to ensure that their votes are properly counted and transmitted.

The party made the appeal on Wednesday during the official flag-off of its campaigns for the 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections.

Speaking at the flag-off, the Chairman of the Campaign Committee and governorship candidate of the party in the state, Ladi Adebutu, assured residents that better days were ahead.

Adebutu expressed optimism that Nigerians would once again experience improved living conditions.

“I know the happy days are coming again in January. By the grace of God, the leader in Nigeria has asked me to say one prayer. The prayer is that we shall banish poverty,” he said.

He urged PDP supporters to remain committed to the party and ensure that their votes count during the elections, calling on them to resist intimidation and stand firmly by their choices at the polls.

Similarly, his running mate, Lateefat Sowunmi-Kolapo, urged residents not to be intimidated during the exercise, stressing that elections are about the people and their right to choose their leaders.

“After voting, don’t say that you are done and leave. Cast your vote and stay at the polling unit. Stand by your vote and follow the process to the collation centre.

“Do not be intimidated. The vote belongs to the people, so let’s come out and exercise our franchise. May God give us victory. Vote for the PDP from top to bottom,” she stated.

Also, the party’s senatorial candidate, Iyabo Obasanjo, said her desire to restore the senatorial district to its pride of place necessitated her return to the PDP after a brief sojourn in the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Obasanjo, daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, noted that having previously represented the senatorial district from 2007 to 2011, she was shocked that the gains recorded during her tenure had been eroded by successive representatives.

“My desire to take our senatorial district back to where it was when I represented it is the reason I returned to the PDP to take up the challenge of restoring our lost glory,” she said.

DAILY POST reports that thousands of residents and party supporters stormed the streets of the three federal constituencies in Ogun Central Senatorial District.

They pledged their unwavering support for the PDP candidates and assured them of their votes in January.

“We will vote for the PDP and stand by our votes,” many of them said.

The Labour Party, LP, has recorded another major boost in Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue State following the defection of over 1,000 members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, All Progressives Congress, APC, African Democratic Congress, ADC, and other political parties.

The latest mass defection took place in Orokam District on Wednesday and came amid a wave of political realignments across Ogbadibo, comprising Orokam, Owukpa and Otukpa districts, ahead of the 2027 general election.

The defectors, comprising political stakeholders, community leaders and supporters, were formally received into the Labour Party during a ceremony attended by leaders of the party at the state and local government levels.

Speaking on behalf of the defectors, a former House of Assembly aspirant on the platform of the ADC, Hon. E.E. Justice, said their decision to join the LP was influenced by what they described as the party’s commitment to inclusive leadership, development and grassroots participation.

Justice also identified the leadership and representation of the member representing Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo Federal Constituency, Hon. Philip Agbese, popularly known as Okanga 1 of Enone Kingdom, as a major factor behind their decision.

Some of the defectors publicly discarded symbols of their former political parties before receiving Labour Party flags and membership materials.

The Benue State Chairman of the Labour Party, Hon. Williams Ochonu Okefie, alongside the Ogbadibo Local Government Chairman of the party, Hon. Peter Enejor, received the new members and assured them of equal opportunities in the party.

Also welcoming the defectors, Agbese described their decision as an indication of the growing acceptance of the Labour Party across Ogbadibo.

The federal lawmaker welcomed the new members into the LP and urged them to work with existing members to strengthen the party at the grassroots.

He assured them that there would be no discrimination between old and new members, stressing that everyone would be given an opportunity to contribute to the growth of the party.

Agbese, who is seeking re-election to the House of Representatives in 2027, has been at the centre of the Labour Party’s growing political activities in Enone Federal Constituency since joining the party.

He secured the LP ticket for the constituency earlier this year.