A former Peoples Democratic Party senator from Enugu State, Chukwuka Utazi, has defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Mr Utazi, who represented Enugu North District in the 9th Senate under the PDP platform, was received into the APC on Saturday during a meeting of the APC leaders at the party secretariat in Enugu.
The Chairperson of the APC in the state, Ugochukwu Agballah, received the former senator.
The Minister of Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji and the Deputy National Chairperson South of the APC, Emma Eneukwu, were among the APC leaders at the meeting.
Mr Utazi resigned from the PDP in October, shortly after the 2023 general elections.
The former senator had explained that he decided to resign from the PDP because “those ideals that attracted me to the party have since receded into oblivion.”
He said the situation forced him to leave and find another party that would afford him “ample opportunity to operate maximally and contribute to national development”.
Besides Mr Utazi, a 2023 governorship aspirant of the Labour Party (LP) in Enugu State, Dave Nnamani and a former Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation, Fidelia Njeze, also defected to the APC.
Mrs Njeze earlier defected to the LP from PDP during the 2023 general elections.
The Senatorial candidate of the ADC for Enugu North District, Chuka Idoko, his All Progressives Grand Alliance counterpart for the same district, Jonathan Eze and an entrepreneur, Goddy Jinegwo, equally defected to the APC.
Like Mr Utazi, they were received into the APC at the Enugu State party secretariat by the APC chairperson, Mr Agballah.
In their communiqué after the meeting, the leadership of the APC in Enugu State said the party was ready to welcome new members and reintegrate those previously suspended or expelled based on sincere repentance.
