Ganduje Receives Anambra Senator to APC

The defection of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah from the Young Progressive Party to the ruling All Progressives Congress has been welcomed by the National Chairman of the ruling party, Abdullahi Ganduje.

Ubah’s defection was read in the Senate Chamber on Thursday. The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio officially presented the senator representing Anambra South to Ganduje at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja.

The party National chair noted that Ubah’s defection will herald a wind of revolution that will liberate the South-East. While speaking to journalists at the party secretariat, Ganduje described Ubah as a ‘big fish’ who has an enormous political clout in Anambra politics.

He said, “This is the biggest fish we caught since I became the chairman. Let’s see what is happening in the South-East. With five states, three are controlled by different political parties. We have the PDP, Labour Party, and APGA. The remaining two are the APC states. Now, where is the sense of unity in a geopolitical zone with five states controlled by four political parties? Is this a sense of collective decision to participate in national politics? No.

“Now we have started seeing the answer. We will start a revolution. Already, we have two states in the South-East and with this timber and caliber and political juggernaut (Ubah), I think we have found the answer, an answer to liberating the South-East geopolitical zone. I describe him as a swing politician because wherever he is, that party wins. And we expect this swing will swing throughout the southeast, especially to the other three states.”

Explaining why he defected, Ubah, who had previously won a second term as a member of the YPP, explained that his decision was due to the unresolvable conflicts within his previous group.

He said, “I want to be sincere. It has always been difficult for the Igbo people to cue into the national party because of our sentiments and emotions. But, since our president has emerged, and I put that challenge to each Igbo man today in Nigeria, about 70 to 80 percent of them drive their wealth from the legacy that the president has left in Lagos. Our president is a politician who understands pains and how to console people. He has that capacity.

“It is also important for me to tell our people about the appointment of Dave Umahi as the minister of works for the very first time, irrespective of our very low turnout of votes for him. Our president is rewarding those who didn’t vote for him. For that, it will be very difficult for any man with a conscience not to look at the direction of the central party. I consulted widely. I don’t see anyone who will come against my coming into the APC.

He added, “It is not all about talking. It is about doing. I believe in action and I am going to deliver. I have made my complaints to Mr President in front of the Senate President and Mr President has graciously given me his words that he will support me.”

On his part, the senate president while handing over Ubah to Ganduje said, “Our visit today is to surprise you (Ganduje) that we have increased our number in the Nigerian Senate. This time around we are bringing a political timber in the Senate to you. It was very difficult to convince him to join the train. Here is the man who survived the tsunami in the southeast when the Labour Party was deceiving Nigerians.

“He is not just coming with YPP alone; he is also coming with the timbers and calibers of the old party that used to be in charge of Nigeria. One of them is a former Senate President. So the man that comes will be the torch to lead the southeast to the national politics of Nigeria. It is my privilege to hand him over to you,” Ganduje concluded.