The All Progressives Congress (APC), in Enugu State, has suffered a huge setback as thousands of its members from Ezeagu Council of the state declared support for the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Peter Mbah, saying they had taken over ownership of the project.
Members of the party, who converged in Enugu, yesterday, under the aegis of Ezeagu Igbudu Movement, said they believe Mbah has what it takes to move the state forward by giving citizens a new socio-economic outlook.
The convener of the group, and former state Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Ozo Mmamel, has denied defecting from the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He said that recent endorsement of PDP governorship candidate for the state, Mbah, was predicated on the compromise within the state chapter of APC.
Speaking to news respondents on the rationale behind the cross-party endorsement, Mmamel, who is also a commissioner in the Nigeria Human Rights Commission (NHRC), explained that current emphasis on developmental politics transcends partisan affiliation.
He maintained that having looked around and studied manifestoes of frontline governorship candidates in the state, it became obvious to him and his people that Mbah sounds more cerebral, and speaks to issues of development.
Stressing that he was not contemplating a return to PDP, the APC chieftain stated: “I am not leaving APC; of course, I was in PDP before I joined APC. I am particular about developmental politics. It is politics of issues, and commitment to the cause and development of our people.
“I found out that the other candidates are not speaking the language of development.
Mbah looks more cerebral, and has a better manifesto in terms of development of the state. What we had with him on Sunday was more of a town hall meeting on how he can help our people if he gets elected as governor.
“We talked about the agenda he has for development of our people, as well as agro businesses, vis-à-vis the Premier Cashew Industry, Oghe; education as it concerns Teacher Training College (TTC), Iwollo, which was upgraded to a polytechnic, but now does not have anything to show.
“Then agriculture, because of our arable land, and the fact that our people are predominantly farmers. We reminded him that farm settlements are manned by Agbaja people, including Ugbochime, Ugbo Ohagwu, Ugbo Owa.”
Mmamel, who is also a former national legal adviser of Association of Local Government Councils of Nigeria (ALGON), said the discussion with Mbah was at a non-partisan group level.
“So, it was more of a discussion, and not along party lines. That was why we assembled ourselves as Umuezeagu Igbudu Movement. That is our name. We did not say we are members of APC or PDP.”