2027: APC Set to Take Over Enugu, Says Minister Nnaji
2027: APC Set to Take Over Enugu, Says Minister Nnaji
The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, has declared that nothing will stop the All Progressives Congress (APC) from taking over Enugu State Government House from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2027 general elections.
Speaking on Sunday at Ogurute in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area, where over 500 defectors from the PDP, Labour Party (LP), and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) formally joined the APC, Nnaji criticised the state government over what he described as the indiscriminate demolition of markets and shops without prior notice or compensation.
He said such actions were worsening the hardship faced by traders and had led to the death of several victims within the past year.
Newera News gathered that the minister, who led the APC in Enugu State, condemned the demolition of businesses under the guise of developing modern motor parks, stressing that it was unjust to destroy people’s livelihoods without alternatives or support.
He also expressed appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for appointing Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, a native of the area, as Chief of Naval Staff. Nnaji thanked the people of Igbo-Eze North for their growing support for the APC.
Accompanied by top party figures, including the APC State chairman, Barr. Ugochukwu Agballah, 2023 deputy governorship candidate, Barr. George Ogara; and Comrade Fidelis Edeh, Pro-Chancellor of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, the minister assured that the party would lawfully do everything within its power to unseat the PDP administration led by Governor Peter Mbah in 2027.
Nnaji also condemned an alleged attempt by Igbo-Eze North local government officials and PDP leaders to stop the mini-rally, describing it as a misuse of power and a sign of political intolerance.
“We heard that some people were trying to abuse their authority by attempting to stop this gathering today, to the extent that we have to move from the original venue to this place. What we have come today is more of liberating our people.
“An average Igbo man is a trader, so if you keep on destroying the markets, demolishing the markets without compensation, without providing an alternative, I don’t know how our people are going to survive and that is why we have brought out ourselves, come rain, come shine, that we are going to fight, we are going to do everything humanly possible and within the ambit of law to make sure that come 2027 our people will start rejoicing again.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu knows that we are here; he knows we are doing all these things for the state and him and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He knows and he has our support 101 percent, and he is behind us. we are APC. We are not running away anywhere for anybody’s sake.
“We will remain here and we will welcome anybody who wants to enter. Anybody who wants to enter, we’ll welcome them, but we’ll make sure we defeat him.
If anybody enters, we’ll welcome him and defeat him, and throw him away. So we are waiting for people to come to this party. We want many people to come in; there is no preferential treatment. When they come in, we’ll defeat them.
“And we thank the president and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces for appointing Vice Admiral Ogalla, who is from Igbo-Eze North, to make him the Chief of Naval Staff. We’ll keep thanking him for this,” the Minister stated.
The State Chairman of APC, Agballah, who described the influx of new members as a ‘rainbow movement’, thanked the defectors for joining APC, saying that the disadvantage of belonging to small parties is that they won’t be able to protect their votes.
“You know that in the last election, Labour Party won in Igbo-Eze North, LP won the House of Assembly, won the House of Rep, won everything, but they were rigged out. Do you know why they were rigged out? It’s because they were in a one-man show. One-man-show parties don’t go far. Politics is like a market; one person does not constitute the market.”
Some of the defectors, including Hon Ikechukwu Ogbugo, a former executive Vice Chairman, Igbo-Eze North LGA under PDP; Hon. Barr. Osita Ugwuoke, Hon Festus Ayogu of PDP (Bravo), Chief Oliver Idoko (Ego Amaka Transport), Hon Emmanuel Itodo (E-Gas) and Prof. Onyeke A. Onyeke, former House of Assembly member under old Enugu state, stated that they were joining APC because of the appointment of their brother as Chief of Naval Staff as well as neglect by their former parties over the years.
