•’Three reasons Mbah is leaving PDP
•Moves with 24 Lawmakers, 260 Councillors
By Clifford Ndujihe & Omeiza Ajayi
BARRING a last-minute delay, three opposition governors, including Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State and Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State, will defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, next week, Saturday, Vanguard has gathered.
Mbah and Diri were elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. The identity of the third governor is still under wraps.
Saturday Vanguard gathered that while Mbah has got the imprimatur of PDP stakeholders in Enugu to move, Diri is being opposed by many National Assembly members in Bayelsa including his immediate predecessor and backer, Senator Seriake Dickson.
In readiness for the defections tentatively billed for Tuesday, October 14, the National Working Committee, NWC, of the APC, on Thursday, dissolved the State Working Committee, SWC, in Enugu and appointed a caretaker committee.
Contacted on the issue, yesterday, a top aide of Governor Mbah, initially said ‘I cannot confirm or deny it. I will get back to you “
However, he later disclosed that the deal had been sealed. “The governor will land in APC but I don’t know whether or not it will be on Tuesday “
Earthquake in Enugu PDP
With the move, the PDP in Enugu State is on the brink of collapse, if Governor Mbah leads exodus of the state’s entire political structure into the APC.
Mbah has agreed to defect — Ben Nwoye
In what party leaders described as the “death knell” of the PDP in Enugu, APC Caretaker Chairman in the state, Dr. Ben Nwoye, revealed in Abuja that Mbah will formally defect on Tuesday October 14, 2024, accompanied by all 260 ward councillors, 24 members of the State House of Assembly, National Assembly members and the entire PDP State Executive Committee.
“Political evangelism has started. We went to the governor, and he has agreed to move with us into APC. He is not coming alone, he is coming with the whole structure of Enugu PDP,” Nwoye declared, drawing thunderous applause at the inauguration of the Enugu APC caretaker committee, yesterday, in Abuja.
The defection, described by insiders as the most consequential political realignment in the South-East since 1999, will end the PDP’s 25-year dominance in Enugu and reposition the South-East in Nigeria’s ruling coalition.
APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, who inaugurated the caretaker committee charged the new Enugu leadership to consolidate the shock defection into a lasting political conquest:
“APC is home for all. The person who came yesterday, today, or tomorrow has equal rights. Our goal is simple; to expand, to win and to deliver overwhelming victory in 2027,” Yilwatda said.
Deputy National Chairman (South), Emma Eneukwu, said the development marks the return of the South-East to national relevance.
“We will no longer play second fiddle. With Enugu in APC, the South-East has found its voice again”, he declared. Party leaders believe that the move will decimate PDP’s influence in the region, open the floodgates for defections in Anambra and Abia, and give APC its strongest foothold yet in the South-East ahead of the 2027 elections.
“Where Enugu goes, the South-East goes. Never again will opposition dominate our region. Governor Mbah has transformed Enugu in two years. Now, he will anchor APC’s Renewed Hope Agenda in the South-East”, said Nwoye
Diri’s game plan in Bayelsa
In Bayelsa, checks showed that Diri’s defection, which had been on the cards for months may also be laid to rest next week.
Sources told Saturday Vanguard that Diri would have joined APC earlier than now but for the animosity within the leadership of the Bayelsa APC, especially by the group loyal to Chief Timipre Sylva, former Governor and minister of Petroleum Resources. It was also gathered that Diri had consulted former President Goodluck Jonathan, and some Bayelsa State elders before deciding to dump the PDP, and that he has the backing of the majority of the members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly to defect to the APC
However, Diri’s defection plan is being opposed by the majority of the National Assembly members on the ground that there is no compelling reason to defect to the APC.
Two Senators -the senator representing Bayelsa West, Henry Seriake Dickson and Benson Agadaga, three House of Representatives members out of five, namely Fred Agbedi (Sagbama/ Ekeremor), Maria Ebikake (Nembe/Brass) and Mietama Obordor (Ogbia) are not going to defect with Diri to the APC
Nevertheless, associates of the governor said he had made up his mind.
“There is no going back on the governor crossing to the APC. We have passed the stage of consultation. The governor is going with members of the House of Assembly, though not all of us are going. Also, some members of the National Assembly are not going. Senator Konbowei Benson is going with the governor. The defection may be next week,” a top Bayelsa legislator reportedly said.
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Daniel Alabrah, said he was not aware of the Governor’s plan to defect.
APC plan grand reception
Like was done when Governors Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta) and Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom) defected from the PDP to APC, recently, sources said the ruling party is planning a grand reception for Mbah, Diri and other defecting opposition governors
“The party leadership will give them a befitting reception,” one of the sources said.
Three reasons Mbah is leaving PDP — Aide
Indeed, a top close aide of Mbah gave three reasons the governor is quitting the PDP. They are the party’s maltreatment of the South-East zone, failure to ratify Sunday Udeh-Okoye, the zone’s choice as national secretary and endless crises in the PDP.
The failure of the PDP to ratify Udeh-Okoye as South-East’s choice to complete the remaining tenure Senator Samuel Anyanwu, who had won the party’s ticket and flew the party’s flag in the November 2023 Imo governorship election had pitted the party and its South-East caucus.
Trampling on S-East loyalty
In their communique after the South-East Zonal Executive Committee, meeting at Government House, Enugu, on May 14, the South-East PDP warned that it was fed up and might leave the party, if it failed to ratify Udeh-Okoye as the National Secretary for the umpteenth time.
“In the event that our position is not promptly implemented by the party, the South-East PDP, as a family, will be compelled to reconsider our relationship with the PDP going forward,” the communique read by the South-East Zonal Chairman of the party, Chief Ali Odefa, stated.
At the event, former Senate President and Chairman of PDP Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, decried the trampling of South-East PDP despite the region’s loyalty to the party since its formation in 1998.
“We have been trampled upon, not taken seriously. If such a position were vacant in the South-South, it would not be like this. And now, it came to us and the usual thing is to play politics with the Igbo man. Yes, we may have to reconsider our stand as far as the party is concerned. But I trust the NWC.”
Endless crisis
The source said the endless crisis in the PDP is also a major factor fueling defections from the party, including that of Dr. Mbah.
While reiterating the possibility of South-East and himself dumping the party during Governor Seyi Makinde’s intervention visit to Enugu on June 30, Mbah maintained that “we reserve the right to review our continued membership of the party if the party is unwilling to put its house in order.”
Retention of Anyanwu as scribe
With the retention of Anyanwu, an ally of the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, as National Secretary, the PDP has continued to writhe in pains of crisis, with many party faithful now afraid that PDP might not be able to field candidates in the 2027
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