From Jude Chinedu, Enugu
The Enugu State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Saturday witnessed a major boost as no fewer than 5,000 members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) defected to the party during a rally held in Aku town, Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area of the state.
The defection was led by a former House of Assembly candidate under APGA, Celestine Attah, who officially handed over thousands of his supporters and political allies to the APC.
The event was attended by top APC leaders including the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji; Enugu State APC Chairman, Chief Ugochukwu Agballah; member representing Udi-Ezeagu Federal Constituency, Sunday Umeha; Director-General of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike Muonso, and other chieftains of the party.
Addressing the crowd, Chief Nnaji said the massive turnout of defectors showed that the people of Enugu were beginning to appreciate the development strides of President Bola Tinubu’s administration in the state.
According to him, “Today in Enugu we are facing a major economic quagmire, today in Enugu we are number two from bottom as the most expensive city in Nigeria. Enugu is a civil service town but still we are the second most expensive city in Nigeria.
“What is the problem? It’s because of the type of tax the government has imposed on our people. A hawker, small girls selling ordinary sachet water, pays between N300 and N500 every day. If you calculate it, he or she is paying over N100,000 a year.
“If that money is being properly utilized, our teeming young men, the youths and women will have free education, they will have good health facilities for our children and they will have good infrastructure for the state. Today we don’t have all these because our taxes are not being applied where it should be applied.”
He commended Attah for collapsing his political structure into APC, describing the move as a major step toward rescuing the state from what he termed “misapplication of resources and high taxation” under the current state government.
Chief Nnaji also promised more employment opportunities for youths in the area and assured of more federal presence in Enugu. He declared that the APC in the state has been repositioned to take over power in 2027.
Speaking at the rally, APC State Chairman, Chief Ugochukwu Agballah, expressed appreciation to President Tinubu for the ongoing dualisation of the Ninth Mile–Opi–Makurdi road, as well as other federal projects in the state.
He accused past administrations of abandoning the people of Igbo-Etiti, despite their unwavering political support. “For many years under the governance of the party Igbo-Etiti people supported for 26 years, the entire local government was completely inaccessible due to the complete collapse of road infrastructure into the LGA; not until the coming of the government of Bola Tinubu’s APC that they never voted for,” he said.
“The president has given the people of the area two brand new international standard dual carriage express roads from Ninth Mile to Opi Nsukka and another federal road from same Ninth Mile to Makurdi.”
He further stated, “Our plan in Enugu, we are very intentional in our politics. APC is a party for serious minded ideological change oriented progressives that want to change the status-quo in Enugu because for 26 years PDP leadership has held our people hostage. Enugu, which used to be the number one state in South Eastern Nigeria, is now coming last.
“It’s because of one party system that PDP has been giving us poor governance. So we are going to give Enugu the best, and bring about a creative high performing governance and that’s why we want competitive democracy in Enugu.
On his part, Sunday Umeha, who spoke on behalf of the APC House of Representatives caucus members from Enugu State, expressed confidence that the party would take over the Enugu Government House come 2027.
“For the record, I’m speaking here for myself and on behalf of other members of APC House of Representative caucus of Enugu state made up of myself, my brother Prof Paul Nnamchi and Hon Chimobi Atu. Let me emphasize that APC in Enugu state is poised to take the lead come 2027. I have said it and I’m reiterating it again, how it will work I don’t know but I can assure you that come 2027 we will take over the Lion Building.
“The leadership of Chief Uche Nnaji in Enugu state is not only inspiring but result oriented. We are determined to make sure that Enugu state is connected 100 percent to the centre. Enugu is the headquarters of South Eastern Nigeria and we cannot play second fiddle,” Umeha said.
Speaking on behalf of the defectors, Celestine Attah attributed their decision to join APC to recent federal appointments and infrastructure projects initiated by the Tinubu administration in Enugu.
Attah listed the appointment of an Enugu indigene as Chief of Naval Staff, the establishment of a Naval College and a Naval Base in Uzo-Uwani, the appointment of another Enugu son as Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and the construction of the 9th Mile-Opi road as some of the key reasons for their defection.