Ben Ezechime, Enugu
The recent rumours linking Governor Peter Mbah to the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been dispelled. The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, has declared that Mbah would not join the party.
Speaking on Saturday at an APC stakeholders’ meeting in Enugu, Nnaji described Governor Mbah as “partyless” and an “IDP” (Internally Displaced Politician), insisting that the governor would not defect to the APC. Nnaji told party members that anyone who wants to run for governorship must undergo an election.
“No free tickets; such a person must run a primary. But let me tell you, he will not enter. He will not enter; he is afraid because there are many IDPs. He is an internally displaced politician; he will be running from pillar to post until it is over,” the minister said.
According to him, the APC had come to stay, adding that this was why people from every nook and cranny wanted to join the party.
Nnaji said: “And as we said earlier, we want people to come in, but we will not give them a free ticket; they must go to a contest. Anybody that wants to run for the governorship of Enugu State, let him come to the APC; we will go to contest. We are waiting for them. We want to populate the party, provided the person is going to look after the party when he gets in. We don’t have a problem.
“So, if the President of Nigeria wants to come and run for the governor of Enugu State, let him come; we will support him. If the former governor of anywhere wants to join us, let him come; we will run the primaries.
“It will make it even easier; the primary will be the main election, so that when we finish with the primary, we know we have finished. But let me tell you, he will not enter. He is afraid because there are too many IDPs in Enugu—Internally Displaced Politicians—many of them are partyless; they don’t have a party.
“That’s why we are urging him to come, but he will not come. He is an internally displaced politician; he doesn’t have a party; he is partyless. We want him to come, but he will be running from pillar to post until it is too late.”
