The former Senate President, Pius Anyim, on Saturday dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ebonyi State.
He switched to the APC with some of his supporters during the grand finale of the APC campaign for the local government election in Abakaliki, the state capital.
Anyim, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), joined the ruling party alongside the PDP governorship candidate in the 2023 general elections in Ebonyi State, Senator Obinna Ogba and that of the Labour Party, Chief Edward Nkwegu.
Also, some former members of the National and State Assemblies as well as former local council chairmen from the opposition defected to the APC.
In his remarks, Anyim said Ebonyi had always been a one political family and the massive defection of opposition members to the party attested to this.
The former Senate President said his plan to join the APC had been hatched for long.
He said: “The time I wanted this to happen, former Governor Dave Umahi was not ready and the time, he wanted it, it didn’t turn out the way we wanted.
“We, however, thank God that it has worked smoothly as we all are presently under the same roof.”
The former SGF said that the defection was not just about him but Ebonyi people as consultations were widely made before a final resolution was taken.
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“We wanted to appreciate Governor Francis Nwifuru’s great works and reconciling various political divides in the state, making them stay under one roof.
“We are aware of the enormous economic and socio-cultural challenges confronting the country and the need to patriotically support President Bola Tinubu to surmount the challenges.
“We intend to collaborate with all federal appointees from the state especially the Minister of Works, Umahi to support and step down President Tinubu’s life-uplifting policies to the Ebonyi people,” Anyim added.
The APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, commended Governor Nwifuru for sustaining his predecessor’s ideals of enlarging the APC in the state and South-East.
“The APC is presently de-marginalising the South-East zone by placing it in the mainstream of national politics.
“The ministerial positions among other appointments given by President Tinubu to indigenes of the zone, massive infrastructural development in the zone among others, attest to this fact,” he said.
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