Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State will on Tuesday defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to a publication by both Premium Times and Vanguard, the Chairperson of the APC Caretaker Committee in Enugu, Ben Nwoye, disclosed this in Abuja on Friday after the inauguration of the seven-member committee appointed for the state chapter.
The APC National Working Committee (NWC) dissolved the Enugu State Working Committee and inaugurated a seven-member caretaker committee to oversee the party’s affairs.
The move, party officials said, was part of wider efforts to reposition the party in anticipation of the governor’s defection.
Speaking after his inauguration at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja, Mr Nwoye confirmed that Mr Mbah would be accompanied by 260 councillors, 24 members of the State House of Assembly, federal legislators, and members of the state executive council of the PDP, a move he described as “a historic alignment with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.”
“This is not just about Enugu State. Where Enugu goes, the South-east goes. What we are witnessing is the beginning of the political reawakening of the South-east as we move to integrate the region into national politics,” he said.
The caretaker chairman praised the governor’s performance, noting that his administration has repositioned Enugu as one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing states in internally generated revenue and infrastructural renewal.
He said, “In barely two years, Governor Mbah has moved Enugu from a lagging state to a front-runner.
“Today, Enugu ranks fifth in internally generated revenue nationwide.”
He added that the convergence of Mr Mbah’s transformation agenda with Mr Tinubu’s Renewed Hope vision would accelerate development in the South-east.
“We are seeing a merger of progress and purpose. The transformative agenda of Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah will now align with the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” he said.
The National Chairperson of the APC, Nentawe Yilwatda, Deputy National Chairperson (South), Emma Eneukwu, said during the inauguration of the committee that hinted at the efforts the party had been making to strengthen its influence in the South-east.