BY OKEZIE UCHE
The fate of some chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State, who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), is uncertain.
Before the November 11, 2023 governorship election, the APC in Imo State witnessed a surge of decampees from the opposition PDP.
Seven members of the State Working Committee, including Martin Ejiogu, deputy state chairperson; Collins Opuruozor, publicity secretary; and others, dumped the PDP and joined the APC.
Mr. Opuruozor had alleged that since Samuel Anyanwu, a former senator, became the national secretary of the PDP, he used his powers to fight members of the state working committee.
After their defection, they were swiftly “rewarded” with positions in the State government, with some appointed as Special Advisers or Senior Special Assistants to the Governor.
However, this newspaper observed that the appointments were short-lived, as Governor Uzodimma sacked over 300 SAs and SSAs in his administration.
It took the Governor five months to reconstitute his cabinet, and surprisingly, none of the top decampees made the cut of Commissioners and Special Advisers.
Aside from two former members of the House of Representatives, Ikenna Elezianya and Bede Ekeh who were appointed as commissioners, the horde of PDP decampees to the APC were completely left out in the new look cabinet of Uzodimma.
Analysts have proffered various reasons for the development, with some contending that they may have outlived their usefulness to the Uzodimma administration.
A chieftain of the APC in Owerri North, Enyinnaya Anyanwu, said the PDP decampees to the APC have been favoured in no small measure by the governor.
“In the last cabinet, the SWC members of the PDP who joined were appointed as SAs and SSAs, and in the new cabinet, two ex members of the House of Reps, who joined the APC from the PDP, were appointed Commissioners.”
Some APC members who spoke to INNONEWS, however, said there is no discrimination between those who joined the APC from any political party.
Evans Amadi from Owerri Municipal said, “We are all one big political family, and the question of decampees from PDP being ignored or abandoned by the Governor holds no water.”
“There are some APC members who supported Uzodimma since he came to power in January 2020, and they have not gotten one appointment or reward from the party. Have such members left the party? The answer is no.” he stated.
He argued that staying in a political party is not all about reward and benefits.
The fate of the PDP decampees to the APC remains uncertain, with some wondering if they have been abandoned or rejected by the Uzodimma administration.
Only time will tell if the decampees will be reintegrated into the government or subjected to become political layabouts.
