A stalwart of Action People’s Party (APP) in Abia State, Hon. Barr. Emeka Kalu Uduma has announced his defection from the party to the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying it is on popular demand of his followers.
Announcing his defection in an interaction with ABN TV on Friday, Barr Emeka a former chairman of Ohafia local government said his followers numbering over 3,000 had demanded his return to the party.
Before the 2023 elections, Barr Emeka had dumped APC for the APP, citing his inability to secure the ticket of the broom party to run for State Assembly on March 18 polls.
While praising former governor of Abia, Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu under whom he served as Ohafia local government chairman, Hon. Emeka said he and his followers have continued to admire Kalu’s leadership style, which he said has made him a staunch follower of the former Senate Chief Whip, from his days in the PDP, later PPA and now APC.
The former council boss boss said despite securing the ticket of APP to run for State Assembly election, he lost the poll.
He attributed it to “Obi Wave”, referring to the influence of the Labour Party presidential candidate in 2023, Peter Obi which handed LP a superlative performance in the South East region.
Hon. Emeka said Labour Party had the say in Abia as a result of mass action against the PDP which he said failed to provide dividends of democracy to the people of the state.
“People were suffering. PDP as a political party was not providing dividends of democracy. People were crying for lack of payment of salaries, unlike the days of Orji Kalu as governor.
“For eight years, he never owed anyone salaries. But PDP came and scattered the whole thing. Because of that, LP won, that is exactly what happened. As a result I lost the election because of Obi Wave”, he stated.
He added, “I’m tired of opposition party. So I decided to go back to APC. So today being 23rd day of February (Friday), I called my people and they agreed with me that I should leave opposition party”.
He admitted that under APC, Nigerians have faced excruciating hardship, expressing hope that with effective policies, the federal government will address economic challenges.
He also called on President Tinubu to look at the potentials South East has in bringing development to the country.
