By CHARLES IWUOHA

A frontline member of the Obedient Movement in South East States, Ambassador Obinna Ukor, has dumped the Labour Party (LP) to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ebonyi State.

Ukor said his decision to join the APC was motivated by the good works of Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, who, according to him, has proven the capacity to lead the people beyond political party affairs.

The event took place on Friday night at the APC State Headquarters in Abakiliki, the Ebonyi capital.

“Today is a faithful day in my political history because I was once a member of the Labour Party (LP) and also the obedient movement. When you talk about the obedient movement, you are talking about us here.

“When you look around Ebonyi State, you will discover that everywhere is peaceful, unlike before. I’m here today to also call on my colleagues in the Diaspora to join hands with our governor to build our state because Ebonyi belongs to us all,” Ukor said.

Obinna Uzor was followed to APC by Fred Ukor, a cousin to Obinna Ukor, who commended the Governor Nwifuru-led administration in Ebonyi State for its youth empowerment programmes that have elevated the lives of street hawkers and menial workers.

“We were all based abroad, and when we came back to Nigeria, we decided to join the Labor Party, but in the process, we discovered that the Labor Party is not doing well, but we have seen the good works of Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru.

“The youth empowerment and assistance of those hawkers has brought good names to our state. Before now, each time we are coming back to Nigeria, we see a lot of Ebonyians in Lagos floating the streets, but since Governor Nwifuru came, things have changed, and that’s why we are here to join hands with him to build our state,” he said.

Receiving the decampees, the state chairman of the APC, Chief Stanley Okoro Emegha, thanked the duo for their active participation in the 2023 general elections, noting that their efforts produced a South-East Presidential candidate of Igbo extraction, which could not have been actualized.

He said: “During the days of the Obedient Movement, I was relating to both of you. There is one music that the Igbos have danced very well, but we didn’t let it enter our brains; we managed it.

“As you people were vibrating to give us relevance, we knew that there was no way it could have been actualized; our problem has always been not coming together, but I thank God today for people like our governor, a young and vibrant man who is doing everything to ensure that we get to the right way of doing things.”

Emegha charged them to apply the same measure of strength they used during the obedient movement to support Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru in the transformation of the state.

“Now that you are seeing his actions, it is a time and good time for all of us to come as vibrant brains, to give him support,” he added.