Ebonyi: Ex-PDP Rep, State Assembly member defect to APC

A former Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, House of Representatives member in Ebonyi State, Chief Anayo Edwin Nwonu, and a serving lawmakers in the state House of Assembly, Chikodiri Nomeh, have defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

This came barely one month after Chief Lazarus Ogbee, Peter Edeh and Livinus Makwe, who were also federal lawmakers, joined the party with their loyalists.

Nwonu represented Ezza North and Ishielu federal constituency of the state, while Nomeh is currently representing Ezza North West constituency in the state House of Assembly.

They defected to the APC on Thursday with their supporters in an event organized at Ebiaji, Ezza North Local Government headquarters by the state Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Engr. Jude Okpor.

Nwonu was in the federal House between 2015 and 2023 and contested for last governorship primary on the platform of PDP but lost out.

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After losing, he defected to the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in a bid to return to the National Assembly for the 3rd time but lost the party’s ticket to the current member, Joseph Nwobashi.

The politicians were received into the APC by the state chairman of the party, Chief Stanley Okoro Emegha and other stakeholders of Ezza North Local Government Area and Ebonyi Central Zone.

One of stakeholders of the zone, Chief Lazarus Ogbee, who represented Ezza South/Ikwo federal constituency, described Nwonu as one of the generals of politics in the zone.

He stated that the new entrants in the APC will continue to respect old members of the party but should not allow them to mislead them.

Noting that it was time to unite and work for the development of the state, he called on people fanning embers of disunity in Ebonyi Central Zone to stop land toe the path of peace for the progress of the zone and the state at large.

“It’s time to unite and support Governor Francis Nwifuru. If he succeed, 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 programs of Governor Francis Nwifuru which they said have impacted on the people.