By Lodu William Odiya
A member of parliament from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) in Lakes State has resigned from the party and joined the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).
In a document issued on Tuesday, June 17, Albino Ariik Reech, who was the Deputy Chairman of Information for Lakes State Parliament, stated that he left the party due to what he described as the party’s lack of vision and mission for the national agenda, along with recurrent violence escalating as a norm for achieving personal objectives in the Upper Nile Region.
“I, Albino Ariik Reech, have the pleasure to tender my resignation from SPLM-IO under Dr. Riek Machar Teny, PhD, after making a thorough decision to resign and join the SPLM party under the leadership of Comrade Chairman H.E. Salva Kiir Mayardit, the President of the Republic of South Sudan, as dated 17/04/2025 A.D.,” Ariik noted in a statement obtained by this publication.
According to Ariik, the chairman of the SPLM-IO, failed to influence rebel leader Gen. Thomas Cirilo Saka to sign the 2018 peace agreement.
“In the 2018 agreement, General Thomas Cirilo Saka was part of the deal, but the Western world did not allow General Thomas Cirilo to sign the 2018 agreement because it was not in the Western world’s interest. The chairman of the SPLM-IO failed to convince General Thomas Cirilo to sign the 2018 agreement,” he claimed in the statement.
“The allocation of ministerial positions into two regions, Equatoria and Greater Bahr-El-Ghazal, has not favored Equatoria, which was not given a significant ministry like petroleum,” he added.
The SPLM-IO has faced division after the arrest of their chairman, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, splitting into several factions, both within the country and abroad.