Former Senator Uche Ekwunife, who represented the Anambra central senatorial district at the National Assembly until December when she was sacked by the Court of Appeal, has decamped to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ekwunife, as a candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), was declared winner of the March 28, 2015 election into the Anambra central senatorial seat and inaugurated as a senator in June 2015. She however had her election nullified by the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu on December 6, 2015, on grounds of irregularities.
The court mandated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh election within 90 days.
Stating reasons for her defection to APC on Friday, Ekwunife blamed the “seed of confusion” within the PDP as reason for which she would not be participating in the rerun election as a candidate of the party. Ekwunife faulted the rationale behind the verdict of the appeal court which was based on irregularities in her nomination as candidate of the PDP.
”My good people of Anambra Central, the outcome of what we witnessed was a conspiracy between some elements in PDP and the State Government who were panicking over what they referred to as my rising profile,” Ekwunife said.
The ousted senator listed some of her achievements in the National Assembly to include “being the first woman to be appointed the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream,” and “assisting seven youths to gain employment in the federal service” among others.
Ekwunife stated that she advised the PDP to conduct primaries in other to produce a candidate for the upcoming rerun election but nothing meaningful was done about the counsel. She also accused the PDP leaders of creating more confusion in the party which would lead the party nowhere.
”We Ndigbo cannot continue to be relegated from the national bargain which we are co-owners. This is the time to join forces with the Federal Government to move our country forward,” Ekwunife said.
