Nwafor Okafor
A former Speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly, Rita Maduagwu as well as ex-Minister of State for transportation, John Emeka have defected to the All Progressives Congress.
While Maduagwu dumped the All Progressives Grand Alliance for APC, Emeka joined from the Peoples Democratic Party.
They defected on Sunday at a reception ceremony organised for Senator Joy Emodi at her Onitsha residence by the APC leadership in the state.
The state PDP compère , Chris Chikwelu equally joined the APC on the occasion alongside a former APGA governorship aspirant , Chuma Nzeribe .
Also scores of PDP members from Onitsha North, Onitsha South, Ayamelum and Anambra East local government areas of the state as well as some Hausa and Yoruba communities in Onitsha joined APC .
Receiving the defectors, the state chairman of APC, Chief Basil Ejidike, commended their decision, stating that belonging to a party at the centre was the right way to go.
He said ,”We are not going to leave anything stone unturned in our bid to win the Anambra governorship election because Anambra is the South-East political engine.
For Senator Joy Emodi, Ndigbo must connect to the centre, stating that was why she came out from her poltical retirement to joined APC some weeks back.
She said, “This is the time for the Igbo to join politics at the centre. We should join hands to make Nigeria great and there is no other way to do it than to work with the party at the centre.
“I dont have any fear that APC win the November 6 governorship election; and by the grace of God, with the quality of politicians from different parties joining the fray ,it will happen”.
Addressing the defectors, the APC governorship candidate in the November poll, Senator Andy Uba, said the party would win the election free, fair and square.
“We will work hard to win this election .We will run issue- based campaigns to win the election free, fair and square”, Uba stated.
He later led an APC delegation to the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe, where the monarch gave him and his team royal blessings , urging political parties involved in the governorship election to eschew violence and calumny.
