Amid rumoured planned defection of Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State to the All Progressives Congress, APC, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, has said he (the governor) will not join the party.
Recently, there has been speculation that Mbah is on his way to the APC from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
A former chairman of the APC, Dr Ben Nwoye, had also repeatedly stated that they were working to bring Mbah into the party.
However, speaking on Saturday during the APC stakeholders' meeting in Enugu, Nnaji described Governor Mbah as "partyless" and an "IDP" (Internally Displaced politician).
The Minister expressed certainty that Governor Mbah will not defect to the APC.
Apparently referring to Mbah, Nnaji told the party members that: "Anybody who wants to run for governorship, he must undergo election. No free tickets, such a person must run a primary, but let me tell you he will not enter.
“He will not enter, he is afraid because there are many IDPs; he is an internally displaced politician. He will be running from pillar to post until it is over.
"APC has come to stay; that is why from every nook and cranny, people want to join APC. And as we said earlier, we want people to come in, but we will not give them a free ticket, they must go to a contest.
“Anybody that wants to run for the governorship of Enugu State, let him come to APC, we will go to contest, we are waiting for them.
"We want to populate the party, provided the person is going to look after the party when he gets in, we don't have a problem.
“So, if the President of Nigeria wants to come and run for the governor of Enugu State, let him come, we will support him.
“If the former governor of anywhere wants to join us, let him come, we will run the primaries. It will make it even easier, the primary will be the main election. So that when we finish with the primary, we know we have finished.
"But let me tell you, he will not enter, he is afraid, because there are too many IDPs in Enugu, Internally Displaced Politicians, many of them, they are partyless, they don't have a party. That's why we are urging him to come, but he will not come.
“He is an internally displaced politician, he doesn't have a party, he is partyless, we want him to come, he will be running from pillar to post, until it is late.”
Three members of the House of Representatives, who recently defected from Labour Party, LP, to APC, including Hon Sunday Umeha (Udi/Ezeagu), Hon Chimobi Atu (Enugu North/Enugu South) and Hon Prof. Paul Nnamchi in their message pledged their support to ensure that APC wins all the political positions in the state in 2027, including the governorship seat.
Umeha said Upon his joining of the APC, many people saw his move as a wrong political move.
According to him, “Before I joined APC, we had several meetings, from many angles, from the other side, from this side.
“So many things were put forward, part of what they were telling us was that APC is not marketable in Enugu, that APC is not in Enugu, that it is not possible for APC to win election in Enugu.
“There is no manner of disillusionment and confusion that they did not bring, but some of us were people that see tomorrow, if not so, in the history of APC Enugu State, I am the first elected person to defect from Labour Party to APC.
“When I did it, many felt that I made the worst political mistake, but my intuition directed me to follow that part. Against the run of play, I went to the APC, so it is a divine direction.
“And shortly after that, my brother Chimaobi Atu followed suit, and Prof Nnamchi followed suit. Many people from the national assembly are also on their way to APC.
“There is something we saw that made us join APC, but I'm advising my people in APC that to whom much is given, much is expected.
“It is not time for Uhuru yet, in 2023 we did everything humanely possibly to change the government of PDP in Enugu State, we had 7 Reps out 8, two Senators out of 3, we had up to 15 out of 24 Assembly members, but because we don't have strong leadership in the state, that's why we lost the heart of Enugu State which is the governor.
“But today, one man who is an inspirational leader, it is the inspiration of that man that attracts like minds, he is our leader, Hon. Chief Uche Nnaji.
“I'm begging party men, please, the beauty of democracy and the beauty of politics is large number, let us not be restrictive, let's open the door.
“Let us not segregate against anybody, what I mean is our brothers who are coming from our wards, let us open the door for all of them to join.”
On his part, the State Chairman, Agballah stated that APC Enugu State had been growing in leaps and bounds courtesy of Minister Nnaji who had borne the burden of sponsoring the party for more than one year now.
He urged party members to participate actively in the coming continuous voter registration, CVR, exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, noting that from the end of August anybody attending ward meetings must go with his or her voter card.