Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, former Secretary to the Government of Federation (SGF) has decamped his party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to join the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The former SGF who also served as President of the Senate under the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration defected with hundreds of his supporters including Sen. Obinna Ogba, the PDP governorship aspirant in the 2023 general elections.
The former president of the senate announced his defection to the ruling party on Saturday in Abakaliki at the Pa Oruta Ngele Township Abakaliki during the grand finale of the APC Local Government election campaign.
Anyim, who defected along with other notable politicians from other political parties said the reason for defecting to APC was due to the good governance being provided by Gov. Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi.
Anyim assured the National Chairman that Ebonyi has always been united under one political family.
He noted that the people have resolved to collapse the whole state into one political family in appreciation of Nwifuru’s performance and efforts at uniting all groups in the state.
He noted that he, his supporters and those of the Labour Party (LP) , including Chief Edward Nkwegu left their former parties to join hands with President Bola Tinubu in his ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda to accelerate socioeconomic development of the country
Our correspondent reports that former national, state state assembly members and candidates from the PDP and LP in 2023 general election joined Anyim to defect to the ruling APC.
The defectors were received into the APC fold by the the National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Ganduje, Sen. Hope Uzodinma, governor of Imo state and chairman of Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Gov. Nwifuru and Stanley Okoro-Emegha, state APC chairman.
Speaking at the event, Chief Dave Umahi, immediate past governor of Ebonyi and the Minister of Works, commended Anyim for all the support he gave to APC during the 2023 elections.
He added that it was only now the senator formally joined the party.
Umahi, a former senator also thanked President Tinubu for all the support given to him when he faced legal battles after joining the party.
“President Tinubu called me to come and see him, and when I came, he carried me in his car personally to meet a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) who handled our case,” he said.
Umahi noted that he faced serious attacks and conditions for deciding to join the APC but was grateful that today the party has become the beautiful bride of all in the states in the South-East.
He said that the President was very much interested in the development of the South-East region and needed the support of the people to succeed.
He noted that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road would have a spot that would pass through Ebonyi, adding that other works were ongoing on other major roads in the region.
He urged the two governors and other party leaders in the region to work harder to bring on board every stakeholder in the zone to the party so that the region would take its rightful place in national politics. ENDS//
