Otti, Other APGA Members Defect to APC
Former governorship candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Abia State, Mr. Alex Otti, and his supporters yesterday defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
Otti had on August 14, 2020, formally declared for APC, thereby paving the way for his supporters to join him in their new party.
The defectors were former members of the APGA faction loyal to Otti, which claimed to be the “authentic” APGA in the state.
Chairman of the party, Hon Nkem Okoro, led a procession of brooms-waving members of the State Working Committee (SWC), ward and local government executives and other party faithful to the state secretariat of APC in Umuahia. They were received by the zonal and state leaderships of the APC.
Okoro said the decision of APGA leadership and members to defect to APC was to “complete the tsunami of political realignment in Abia State,” adding that the decision to defect to APC was taken after wide consultations from ward to state level.
He said the mass defection became cogent after their leader, Otti, joined the APC, adding that they would deploy the same zeal and commitment they exhibited in their former party to build APC into a winning party in the state.
Okoro stated that their defection “marks the end of our journey in APGA,” adding that they have swelled their new party with over 500,000 members.
Receiving the defectors, the APC National Vice-Chairman, South-east zone, Chief Emma Enukwu, stated that “great things are coming the way of APC in Abia State, as the main opposition parties in the state have seen the need to join forces to wrest power from the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP).
“The reason why they (PDP) have been defeating us in Abia State is because the opposition is divided,” he said, adding that with experience and the former APGA members swelling its rank, APC is now in good stead to win the next poll in Abia.
Describing Abia as “the worst state in the Southeast,” Enukwu assured the people that APC would make sure that the state is well positioned to make progress and catch up with other states.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the state APC, Hon Donatus Nwankpa, said the defection of APGA members to his party was a welcome development, as APC needed the cooperation of other parties to succeed in the state.