Ebonyi: 600,000 Elechi’s supporters dump PDP, join LP

From JEFF AMECHI AGBODO, Abakaliki Supporters of Gov­ernor Martin Ele­chi of Ebonyi State yesterday defected from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to Labour Party (LP) to realise their political ambitions. The defectors numbering about 600,000 held their pri­maries for governorship, Na­tional Assembly and state As­sembly. Those who defected to LP during its primary elections conducted at the Abakaliki Township Stadium yester­day included senator represent­ing, Ebonyi North Senatorial District, Senator Chris Nwank­wo, member representing Ezza South/Ikwo Federal Constitu­ency, Chief Tobias Okwuru, the member representing, Eb­onyi/Ohaukwu Federal Con­stituency in the House of Rep­resentatives, Peter Oga-Ali, 13 members of Ebonyi State House of Assembly and Gov­ernor Elechi’s first son, Chief Elechi Elechi. Others were a business mo­gul, Chief Edward Nkwegu, the immediate past state chair­man of PDP, Chief Ugorji Amaoti, former House of As­sembly leader, Ikechukwu Nwobo, Commissioner for Economic Empowerment, Chief James Aronweke and former Ikwo Local Govern­ment Area Chairman, Chief Celestine Igberi Nweme. Deputy Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Blaise Orji, former Abakaliki council chairman, Chief Mathew Ug­uru, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Chief Celestine Nwa­li, the Commissioner for Edu­cation, Prince Ndubuisi Agbo, his agriculture counterpart, Romanus Nwasum, a former minister, Chief Goddy Ogbaga and a former bank managing director, Sam Agom-Eze, were also among the defectors. Security personnel number­ing over 150 were strategically located at different points to avert any breakdown of law and order, while the roads leading to the venue of the primaries were also blocked to give the delegates free access in and out of the venue.