Enugu APC raises alarm over moves to destabilise Mbah’s 2027 bid

From Jude Chinedu, Enugu

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State has raised concerns over what it described as attempts by certain groups to destabilise the second-term bid of Governor Peter Mbah.

The party alleged that some individuals it referred to as “secessionists” are mobilising political forces ahead of the 2027 governorship election in ways that could undermine the state’s longstanding rotational arrangement.

Speaking, yesterday, while receiving members of the Asiwaju Renewed Mandate South East (ARMSE), led by former presidential spokesman in the South East, Josef Onoh, the APC caretaker committee chairman in the state, Dr Ben Nwoye, clarified that the so-called secessionists were not agitators for a breakaway republic, but groups advocating for the creation of a new state from Enugu.

Nwoye said there are multiple groups pushing for state creation, some proposing arrangements that would combine parts of Enugu with neighbouring South East states. He alleged that certain actors within these movements are also encouraging governorship aspirants to emerge from the same senatorial district as Governor Mbah or from zones outside Enugu East Senatorial District, which he said is favoured under the state’s informal power rotation understanding.

“Those in opposition to Governor Peter Mbah want to destabilise the state. There are those who are secessionists, even though they are not Biafra agitators, but elder statesmen recruiting others from Enugu East Senatorial Zone to run for governorship in 2027,” Nwoye said.

“There are also external factors from outside Enugu State. They say they want a new state, but they should not destabilise the one we already have. We are in support of the creation of additional states, but you cannot come and destabilise the existing structure before leaving for anywhere else. Don’t create narratives that damage what we have built,” he added. Nwoye maintained that attempts to disrupt the current political arrangement would be counterproductive, particularly in view of what he described as the governor’s performance in office.

In his remarks, Onoh said that although ARMSE was established primarily to campaign for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu, the group sought and obtained permission to extend its mobilisation efforts to support Governor Mbah’s second term for the sake of political stability in Enugu State.

He traced the history of the state’s governorship rotation since 1999, attributing the arrangement to the foresight of founding political leaders such as Jim Nwobodo, the late C.C. Onoh and Okwesilieze Nwodo. He said the understanding has ensured relative peace and uninterrupted two-term tenures for governors since the return to democratic rule.

“Though the Asiwaju Renewed Hope Mandate was designed to promote President Tinubu’s re-election, we sought his permission to also use it in support of Governor Mbah, so that Enugu State can remain stable and progressive,” Onoh said.

“It is safer for Governor Mbah to complete two terms, so as not to destabilise the ongoing rotational process that has stabilised the state. We have seen how instability has affected other states in Nigeria. We came to pledge our support to ensure that the political understanding in Enugu is sustained,” he added.