Governor Peter Mbah
By Tony Adibe
Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State, on Saturday, dismissed with a wave of his hand speculations that he is about defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC). There has been a rumour that the governor will dump the umbrella party – Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for the ruling APC in view of the current crisis rocking the PDP.
The rumour was so widespread that at a point, the APC Chairman in Enugu State, Chief Ugo Agballah, even said that Governor Mbah was not welcome to the party. However, Governor Mbah said yesterday that he was still a committed member of the PDP.
He spoke during an interactive session with the members of the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE), on Saturday in Enugu. “I am still in the PDP, as you can see, the flag behind me is that of the PDP,” he said.
While acknowledging the challenges facing PDP, Mbah explained that the party was not the one encountering a crisis in the country, expressing optimism that the party would soon resolve its problems. Commenting on independent candidacy, the governor said the constitution does not recognise or have a provision for someone to run as an independent candidate.
“So, you must still do the politics as you cannot completely shield yourself from it. It is also clear from the people of Enugu State that we are in this to serve them. So, we have focused largely on governance. I believe that at the end of the day, the people would have to decide whether they want to renew our mandate or kick us out,” he added.
Mbah also recalled that the 2023 Labour Party governorship candidate in Enugu, Mr Chijioke Edeoga, had returned to the party to join him in moving the State forward.
NewsBits recalls that at a South-East zonal meeting of the PDP held weeks back, the zonal leaders threatened to dump the PDP if the national leadership failed to recognise SKE Ude Okoye as the National Secretary.
But at the moment, the party leaders are divided between Senator Samuel Anyanwu and Setonji Koshoedo.
NewsBits, however, reports that only time and unfolding political developments would determine what the next action by the PDP in the South-East zone of Nigeria.
