Kennedy Peretei, a former publicity secretary for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State, has emerged as the new chairman of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in the state.

Mr Peretei and 15 other members were elected as executives of the party at its state congress held on Monday in Akure.

Babatunde Daoda emerged as the secretary, Aruwajoye Adedoyin as treasurer, and Owobola Adebola was elected the publicity secretary.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Peretei, who emerged through consensus, thanked party members for finding him worthy of the position.

He said that about 10 million Nigerians had registered with the party within 24 hours to rescue the country from the present situation and promised strong opposition in the state.

He said that NDC was the only political party that would rescue Nigeria, expressing hope that the massive registration of members would translate to votes in the 2027 general elections.

“People want something different; people want something better than they’re experiencing now, and that is what is driving this process.

“We are already a strong opposition; for people like us, we have the opposition tradition. We have held the government accountable in this state in the past.

“As from today, having concluded this congress, the ruling party knows it will be accountable to the people. So, we want to assure our people in the state that we are coming, we are already on course, and they know,” he said.

Mr Peretei said that the NDC would adopt the consensus mode of primary in the state, warning the ruling party against an attempt to strangle the opposition.

“I want to tell you that there is a deliberate attempt to strangle opposition, and I believe that this country does not belong to anybody. This country belongs to all of us.

“And the political space must be enlarged so that people can express themselves, and that is why the NDC is coming on board,” he said.

The NDC congress was witnessed by Adenike Tadese, the administrative secretary of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state. 

(NAN)