By Ruth Oginyi
About 10 state chairmen of different political parties in Ebonyi state and thousands of their supporters, on Saturday, defected to the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in Ebonyi state.
Mr. Sebastian Obia, chairman of the Labour Party, the governorship candidate of Zenith Labour Party in the last general, Chief Mike Obiahu, Ejiofor Chukwu, chairman, Democratic People’s Party, Ekpa Jacob, chairman HOP, Ukpabi Cletus and others were among the defectors to the main opposition party.
Speaking, at the stakeholder’s meeting, the former secretary to the government to the federal government, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, encouraged the party supporters to remain steadfast that the journey of politics will soon begin in the state.
Former civilian governor of the state and senator representing Ebonyi North, Dr Sam Egwu, Senator Obinna Ogba, Senator Amah Nnachi, and the house of representatives, in their separate remarks, emphasised that Ebonyi state was not an APC state because 80% of the state were in PDP and that, from 1998 to date, the party had never lost an election in Ebonyi and wouls not lose in 2023, adding that their concern was to know the needs of the people in the rural areas and attend to them.
Senator Anyim, other stakeholders of the party, during the meeting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state.
They said that PDP was on ground in Ebonyi state, urging the members and supporters to remain in the party and that those who left the party would soon return.
According to the National Assembly members, leaders of the party were united and nothing would divide them, contrary to social media speculations. And they are capable of funding the party even up till after the election.
The party thanked the state assembly members and others who refused to defect to APC with the state governor.
Mr. Onwe S Onwe, state chairman of the PDP e-registration, intimated the party stakeholders on the upcoming event and called for massive awareness/mobilisation of their members to present themselves for biometric data capturing during the exercise.
Earlier in a remark, the Ebonyi state caretaker committee chairman of PDP, Elder Fred Udogu, said that, although the party worked hard to produce the current government and the governor left for APC, it remained unbeatable in the state, and that they would continue to work hard to reclaim power in 2023.
Meanwhile, Mr. Sebastian Obia, chairman of the Labour Party and Mike Obiahu of Zenith Labour Party said they returned to PDP to join hands with the party leadership to address political anomalies in Ebonyi, which they attributed to the current state government and, thereafter, move the state forward.