The former governor of Anambra state, Jim Nwobodo dumps PDP for APC

These are indeed bad times for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a former minister of Information, and governor of the old Anambra state, Chief Jim Nwobodo, on Friday, January 8, defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to a report on The Punch, Nwobodo, a former presidential aspirant and
senator on the platform of the PDP, announced his defection at a meeting reportedly convened by Dr. Geoffrey Onyeama, the foreign affairs minister in Enugu state.

In his speech, Nwobodo condemned his former party.

He said: “You must always lose, what matters is the ability to rise again.

“I must condemn our former party, PDP – I know we had problems.

“I told our former chairman, how come did we allow five governors to leave the party?

“I am not looking for a job, I am talking because I want peace.

“I want our people to be part of the Federal Government at the centre.”

Nwobodo’s defection was however greeted with repugnance from some members of the APC at the meeting.

Some APC members, who apparently understood his mission at the meeting, voiced their disapproval, but chairman of the party in Enugu state, Dr. Ben Nwoye, who appeared to have prior knowledge of the defection, got the aggrieved party members to calm down.
A former PDP senator from Enugu state, Chief Fidelis Okoro, also defected to the APC at the meeting.
The former governor of Anambra state, Jim Nwobodo dumps PDP for APC
Okoro was in the Senate between 1999 and 2007.
Jim Nwobodo, who was named by the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sabo Dasuki, as one of the beneficiary of the arms funds, had denied media reports that he collected N500 million from Ahmed Muazu, former national chairman of the PDP.

Speaking with Premium Times in a telephone interview, on Wednesday, December, 16, the ex-governor revealed that he received the sum of N100 million from the PDP for “campaign logistics” and not from the former NSA.

He said: “I have never met Sambo Dasuki. I know Yuguda as former Minister, that is all. What happened was that I was invited alongside 15 leaders of PDP in the South East to the residence of Ahmed Muazu to collect the money allocated to our zone by the PDP.

“Three party leaders were selected from each of the five states of the South East. I was selected to lead a committee of 15 to collect the N100million, which was shared to each one of us for campaign logistics in our respective states.

“I was surprised to hear that a report quoted me as saying I collected N500million from Muazu. This is sheer lie as I have never previously spoken to any journalist on this issue but today. So how come somebody concocted a figure and attributed it to me? It was PDP as party that shared the money for campaign not for our individual use.”