April 19, (THEWILL)- A former House of Representatives member in Ebonyi State, Chief Anayo Edwin Nwonu and a serving member of the state House of Assembly, Chikodiri Nomeh, have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Chief Lazarus Ogbee, Peter Edeh and Livinus Makwe, who were also federal lawmakers, had joined the party with their supporters.
Nwonu and Nomeh, who represents Ezza North West constituency in the state Assembly, defected to the APC on Thursday with thousands of their supporters in an event organised for them in Ebiaji, Ezza North local government headquarters by the state Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Jude Okpor.
Nwonu represented Ezza North/Ishielu federal constituency between 2015-2023 and contested for the last governorship election in the state in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), but couldn’t secure the party’s ticket.
He then defected to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to return to the National Assembly for the 3rd time but lost the party’s ticket to the member representing the constituency, Joseph Nwobashi in the court.
The opposition bigwigs were received into the APC by the state Chairman of the party, Chief Stanley Okoro Emegha and stakeholders Ezza North local government and Ebonyi Central zone.
One of the stakeholders of the zone, Chief Lazarus Ogbee, who represented the Ezza South/Ikwo federal constituency, described Nwonu as one of the generals of the politics of the zone.
He stated that the new entrants in the APC will continue to respect old members of the party, but will not allow them to mislead them.
He noted that it was time to unite and work for the development of the state.
He called on people fanning embers of disunity in the Ebonyi Central zone to stop it and toe the path of peace for the progress of the zone and the state.
“It’s time to unite and support Governor Francis Nwifuru. If he succeeds, we have succeeded. We should stop in-fighting and blocking people from joining APC”, he stated.
In their separate speeches, Nwonu and Nomeh said they decided to join APC because of the policies and programmes of Governor Francis Nwifuru which they said have impacted the people.
They noted that they were entering the party with bigwigs of opposition parties in the local government and assured that APC would win the local government in 2027.
Receiving the defectors, the state Chairman of the party, Chief Stanley Okoro Emegha enjoined stakeholders of the party to be in peace and unity and shun in-fighting.
“IÂ was told to go for a membership drive and I am doing it in collaboration with all the stakeholders.
“If there is a crisis, the governor will not do well. If we are at peace, there won’t be a crisis. It is better we live in peace and it costs nothing to be in peace.
“I am conveying a meeting of the Ezza nation. I am begging all of you to please forgive whatever wrong that was done to you. We have to be in peace, nobody owns this state more than the other. We are all equal in this state and everyone is indispensable.
“We cannot achieve anything through a crisis. Nobody is joining the party to come and chase those already in the party.
“If we see you as a stumbling block to the success of the party, we will suspend you. You may be thinking that 2027 is still far away, it is very close. If you are making enemies, remember to reserve energy for peace and reconcile because it will definitely come”, he stated.
Sunday Ogbu is a professional journalist with eight - twelve years experience that had worked with various print and online media. Sunday specializes in news reporting with the aim of educating his readers on current social, political and economic occurences within his area of coverage. Sunday is a strong force to work with in the media industry and uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. Sunday is inspired daily by his wife and their four children. In his free time, Sunday likes sight-seeing, reading and discussing issues of societal interest.
