Uche Nnaji
The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, has ruled out the possibility of Governor Peter Mbah defecting to the All Progressives Congress, APC, from his political party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
He described Governor Mbah as “partyless” and an “IDP” (Internally Displaced politician), saying that he was sure Governor Mbah would not defect to the APC.
There have been discussions in the state as to which political party Governor Mbah will move into following the Nyesom Wike debacle in the PDP, with a group, the Enugu Patriots, asking the Governor to give them a direction on the way forward to the 2027 elections. The traditional rulers in Enugu East Senatorial district equally made similar pressure on Governor Mbah.
But without mentioning Governor Mbah’s name, Minister Nnaji said “Anybody who wants to run for governorship, he must undergo election. No free tickets, such a person must run a primary, but let me tell you he will not enter. He will not enter, he is afraid because there are many IDPs; he is an internally displaced politician. He will be running from pillar to post until it is over.”
Nnaji who spoke in Enugu during expanded stakeholders meeting of the party, on Friday, stressed on the intending defectors to the APC in Enugu state to perish the thought of automatic ticket or hijacking the party’s structure, noting that the party will welcome intending defectors but that there won’t be automatic ticket for anybody, no matter how highly placed.
The Minister stated that members and leaders of the party have made sacrifices and put in so much hard work in refurbishing and repositioning the party to make it attractive and capable of winning the governorship and other positions in the state. He said they would not simply fold their arms and allow defectors to just come in and hijack the party structure.
“APC has come to stay; that is why from every nook and cranny, people want to join APC. And as we said earlier, we want people to come in, but we will not give them a free ticket; they must go to the contest. Anybody who wants to run for the governorship of Enugu State, let him come to the APC, we will go to contest, we are waiting for them.
“We want to populate the party, provided the person is going to look after the party when he gets in, we don’t have problem. So, if the President of Nigeria wants to come and run for the governor of Enugu State, let him come, we will support him. If the former governor of anywhere wants to join us, let him come, we will run the primaries. It will make it even easier, the primary will be the main election. So that when we finish with the primary, we know we have finished.
“But let me tell you, he will not enter, he is afraid, because there are too many IDPs in Enugu, Internally Displaced Politicians, many of them, they are partyless, they don’t have a party. That’s why we are urging him to come, but he will not come. He is an internally displaced politician, he doesn’t have a party, he is partyless. We want him to come, he will be running from pillar to post, until it is late,” Nnaji said.
Three members of the House of Representatives, who recently defected from Labour Party, LP, to APC, including Hon Sunday Umeha (Udi/Ezeagu), Hon Chimobi Atu (Enugu North/Enugu South) and Hon Prof. Paul Nnamchi in their message pledged their support to ensure that APC wins all the political positions in the state in 2027, including the governorship seat.
The State Chairman, Agballah stated that APC Enugu State has been growing in leaps and bounds courtesy of Minister Nnaji who has borne the burden of sponsoring the party for more than one year now. He informed party members to participate actively in the coming continuous voter registration, CVR, exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, noting that from the end of August anybody attending Ward meeting must go with his or her voter card.
