‘Best South-East Governor’ – Presidency Reacts to Umahi’s Impeding Defection To APC

The Presidency has welcomed the impending defection of Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Naija News reports that Umahi’s defection to the APC is all but confirmed after he informed the leadership of the PDP.

Umahi told the main opposition party that he would be defecting to the ruling party to protect the interest of the South-East in the 2023 elections.

It was gathered that the Ebonyi State Governor noted that his decision to dump PDP for the APC is concluded.

However, the National Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus and others tried to persuade him not to dump the party.

Apart from Secondus, among those that were at the meeting at the Ebonyi Governor’s Lodge in Abuja were Deputy National Secretary, Agbo Emmanuel; National Organising Secretary, Austin Akobondu; Financial Secretary, Abdullahi Maibasira; National Women Leader, Mariya Waziri and Senator Sulieman Nazif.

The PDP delegation tried to persuade Umahi that there is no need for him to leave for APC which has no presence in the region.

Sources at the meeting disclosed that Umahi was not moved as he insisted that APC is planning to zone the 2023 Presidency to the South-East.

Umahi had promised to stay in PDP if the party zone the presidency to the South-East in 2023.

Reacting to the planned defection, Bashir Ahmad, a special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on new media, in a tweet in reaction to the news, described Umahi as the highest performing Governor in the South East.

He wrote, “When you apply its actual term, the ‘all politics is local’, His Excellency will be welcomed to our great party, the APC, a great person, one of the performing governors in the country, arguably the best in his region. It’s just a homecoming!”