Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, has advised intending defectors to the All Progressives Congress, Enugu State, to perish the thought of automatic ticket or hijacking the party structure.
Nnaji stated that the party will welcome intending defectors, but there won’t be an automatic ticket for anybody, no matter how highly placed.
Nnaji, who spoke in Enugu during an expanded stakeholders meeting of the party, Saturday, revealed that some persons, who he described as politically displaced politicians, have been running from pillar to post in Abuja with a view to defecting to Enugu APC and hijacking the party through the back door.
In what could be interpreted as a veiled reference to Governor Peter Mbah’s rumoured interest in joining the party, which has got many members apprehensive for fear of losing their positions or aspirations, the Minister counselled intending defectors to perish the thought of automatic ticket, insisting that the party would receive them but subject everybody to party primaries.
He said, “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 the contest.
“Anybody who wants to run for the governorship of Enugu State, let him come to the 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.”
He added, “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 party, he is partyless, we want him to come, he will be running from pillar to post, until it is too late.
“But the good thing is that this our mission is being supported by the good Lord who created us, so we are heading to the government house.
“This is part of the confusion that they will be seeing, that they will be meeting until it becomes too late for them. So, we have a focus, we know where we are going and we will keep going there,” he said.
The Minister praised the state chairman of the party, Ugochukwu Agballah and executives of the party from Ward to State level for their hard work and steadfastness; and other stakeholders for their support, saying that they will be rewarded for their efforts.
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 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 stated that he overcame all manner of discouragement to be the first elected official to defect to APC Enugu State, and was shortly followed by Hon Atu and Hon. Prof Nnamchi, revealing that many more lawmakers, including a senator will soon join APC in the state.
The State Chairman, Agballah stated that APC Enugu State has been growing in leaps and bounds courtesy of Minister Nnaji who has borne the burden of sponsoring the party for more than one year now.
He informed party members to participate actively in the coming continuous voter registration, CVR, exercise by the Independent National Electoral the, INEC, noting that from the end of August, anybody attending a Ward meeting must go with his or her voter card.
He said, “There will be a primary in APC, there will be proper nomination in APC”.
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