Enugu Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has no plans to leave the Peoples Democratic Party for the All Progressives Congress as insinuated by former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, the Enugu State Government has declared.
Fani-Kayode had stated on Wednesday when he joined the APC that Ugwanyi was one of the Governors he has been talking to with a view to leaving the PDP for the ruling party.
Reacting to the insinuation while addressing journalists on Saturday in Enugu, the chairman of Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority, (ECTDA), Dr Josef Onoh, described Fani-Kayode’s comments as a “figment of his imagination”.
He insisted that Ugwuanyi had no plans to leave PDP.
Onoh said that if anybody was in doubt of the Governor stable and courageous character, such a person should refer to last Thursday’s Southern Governors’ meeting in Enugu where Ugwuanyi was the only Governor from the Southeast region present.
According to him: “What Femi Fani-Kayode said was his personal opinion, it did not reflect the opinion of the government, the state or the present state of affairs of the PDP and our governor in Enugu State.
“Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is the leader of the PDP in the Southeast, he has just been made the National Chairman of PDP zoning committee and that shows the level of confidence the PDP as a party has in him.
“It’s like saying that the President of Nigeria could turn around and accept to become a ward councilor. The responsibilities saddled on him, not only as a Governor but to pilot the affairs of over 100 million active registered members of the party is a huge task.
“We respect Fani-Kayode’s conviction in joining the APC but in this game, there are men of integrity and honour. I can tell you authoritatively, not just as an ally of the Governor, that the long rumour of Ugwuanyi joining the APC is false. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in Obasanjo’s words, we still dey kamkpe in PDP.”
Appreciating the role of opposition political parties in democracies, Onoh said there cannot be vibrant democracy without opposition, which must keep a tab on fair play and participation in politics.
“Here in Enugu state, we in the PDP are in opposition but we respect and accommodate the APC and other political parties but the problem is that Femi Fani-Kayode mistakes Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s approach to politics to the generally accepted barbaric norm played by some Nigerian politicians.
“Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is the Governor of Enugu State, and so he is the chief security officer of the state and the father of all political parties in Enugu State.
“He even has the right to revoke the land that any political party office is located, but he provides security for all. If there is a problem in APC secretariat, he will ensure there is security to protect there, same as in APGA or any other party and so he is the governor of all political parties in the state but he is a registered member and an active participant of the PDP because he rules with conscience.
“So whatever Femi Fani-Kayode said is a figment of his imagination and I want members of the general public to disregard that,” Onoh stated.
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