By Obinna Uballa
Barring any last-minute change, Enugu State governor, Peter Mbah, is set to dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), following the sudden resignation of Uche Nnaji, the embattled Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, the New Diplomat has gathered.
Sources close to the governor confided in our correspondent that the governor will seek second term under the APC platform, and will like join the party in the coming days.
“Yes, I can confirm to you that such discussions (defection to APC) are ongoing,” a source close to the governor who craved anonymity said on Wednesday. “I will inform you when the time is ripe.”
Mbah, the only PDP governor in the South East, had reportedly been weighing the option of defecting to APC for months, but his move was stalled by resistance from Nnaji, a close ally of Imo State governor, Hope Uzodimma. Nnaji, who contested against Mbah in the 2023 governorship election on the APC platform, had been positioning himself for another bid in 2027.
Party insiders told our correspondent that prior to his certificate forgery scandal, Nnaji had begun mobilising for his 2027 ambition with the backing of several political bigwigs in Enugu, many of whom had grown disenchanted with Mbah for allegedly refusing to “carry them along” in his administration.
His resignation, however, appears to have cleared the major obstacle to Mbah’s long-anticipated defection. Reliable sources confirmed that the APC National Working Committee (NWC) is already fine-tuning plans to dissolve the Enugu State executive led by Ugochukwu Agballah, an ally of both Nnaji and Uzodimma.
A caretaker committee, expected to oversee the harmonisation of old and new members, will be announced in the coming days.
It was gathered that APC governors are scheduled to storm Enugu soon to formally receive Mbah into the party. Uzodimma, who chairs the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF), is believed to have worked quietly to frustrate Mbah’s entry, hoping to sustain control of the APC structure in the state through Agballah and Nnaji.
But with Nnaji out of office and politically weakened by the certificate scandal, Mbah’s defection now looks inevitable, marking a major realignment in Enugu politics ahead of 2027.
