TheCable

David Umahi, governor of Ebonyi state, has finally confirmed his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

There have been reports of the governor leaving the PDP where he served as deputy governor and was twice elected governor but Umahi has not spoken publicly about it.

After a meeting with Mai Mala Buni, governor of Yobe and chairman of the APC caretaker committee, on Monday, Hope Uzodinma, governor of Imo, had said Umahi will confirm his defection to the APC “in a few hours”.

At a press conference in Abakaliki, capital of Ebonyi, on Tuesday, Umahi confirmed that he has joined the ruling party.

He attributed the action to the “injustice” done to the south-east PDP, wondering why the PDP has not zoned the presidency to the region.

“Let me clear the air and state that I never sort for the ticket of PDP Presidency and I will not. Whoever that said that I moved to APC because they refused to zone the ticket to me is being very mischievous. Because even if PDP promises me, an individual a presidential ticket, how does it work?”

“It is expected that we’ll over 8000 delegates would elect the person and such promise can not happen without more than 10 or 20 people. People are being very mischievous but I tell you, there are a lot of prominent people from South East that can take the slot of PDP.

“Why am I moving to APC? Some people said I was promised this and that but I tell you, there is no such discussion. APC never promised me any position, they never promised South East any position, there was no such discussion, however I offered this movement as a protest to the injustice being done to South East by the PDP since 1998 till date.”
The APC now has control over two states in the south-east – Imo and Ebonyi.