APGA Members Defect En Mass To PDP In Abia State

No fewer than 1000 members of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in Abia state including the   deputy gubernatorial candidate and campaign manager of the party’s governorship candidate in the 2011 election have defected  to the Peoples Democratic Party.

The   defectors who said they were rather “returnees” to the party they belonged to before  they joined  APGA were represented at the brief ceremony at the government house where they were received by Governor T A Orji  and  top notches of the PDP .

 Their representatives  included the running mate  of Chief Reagan Ufomba,  the APGA  governorship candidate, Chief Chima Ubaka, the Director  General Ufomba campaign   Organization, chief  Okechi Kanu, the chief of Staff  Chies Jude Nwogwugwu as well six representatives of the markets in Aba among others.

 Receiving them, Governor Orji   said they have made their best decision in life by returning to the PDP, and urged them to galvanize and make the party stronger at the local government levels. “I receive you to formalize the sense of belonging. This is the best decision you have taken; we accept you with all sincerity and we believe you have come with sincerity.”

 He said that their mass exodus has dealt the  final death blow on the party adding that  the little relevance APGA had was because of the presence of late Emeka  Odumegwu –Ojukwu. He stressed that the death of the former leader would definitely mark the end of the party  adding  that those who were playing up the ethnic sentiment were not helping the party either as nobody wants to belong to a party owned by one ethnic group.

He advised them   to pitch their tent  with  the largest party which has the capacity to accommodate everyone from every part of the country  noting that the habit of leaving a party once  one failed to win nomination was not the best political  behaviour.

Referring to his brief stopover in APGA before joining PDP the Governor said “we made APGA relevant in the state,” adding, we fought a war in Abia State that almost tore the state apart but we won and everything is turning around for our good.”

He noted that PDP would continue to win in Abia state given its performance in the last election, stressing that his administration has returned the state to the mainstream of Nigerian politics which he said made the completion of the 132kv power substation in Umuahia possible among other federal government projects.

According to him, the political class who fled the state has returned saying “PDP is one united family, we are not polarized though they could be problems during elections,” and urged them to stay even when there seem not o be space for political office at the moment.

 In his remarks, chairman of PDP in Abia State, Senator Emma Nwaka  who had earlier received thee decampees at the party secretariat said that with the development “only one person is left in APGA and after now APGA will be buried in Abia State,”. He said that they could rightly be addressed as returnees as they all were members of he PDP.

 Their leader Chief Okechi Kalu said they were back to PDP for obvious reasons, adding that they had expected their former party to offer constructive opposition but was averse to the idea of criticizing on the newspaper which they consider as inimical to the image of the state.