Some members of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) are mounting pressure on Senator Chris Ngige to defect from the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ngige, who has been under similar pressure to join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last two months, has contended that he will not leave the APC which, to him, “is a mass movement for the emancipation of Nigerians.”
He said he turned down the offer to join the PDP on the grounds that internal democracy and fairness cannot be guaranteed in the party.
The fresh pressure from APGA comes on the heels of the defection of former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, to the PDP.
APGA members are apprehensive that the party may not win in the election next year and want someone of Ngige’s calibre to galvanise the party and reconcile all warring factions before the vote.
A source in APGA said “with Peter Obi out of APGA, some party members are not comfortable with the absence of a strong arrowhead that is on the ground and has the capacity and experience to boost the morale of party members.
“Obi’s dumping of APGA will adversely affect the party, and the only politician in Anambra – and if possible Igboland – that can make the difference and also douse the tension occasioned by Peter Obi’s departure from APGA is Ngige.
“Some people have already commenced moves to get him join the party due to the true Igbo man’s spirit in him.”
Anambra State APC Chairman, Emeka Ibe, confirmed the move to lure Ngige into APGA.
Said he: “I know that so many people have been trying to bring him into the PDP, and not only the PDP but APGA also. Last year, there were pressures for him to join these two political parties.
“The pressure is even more now from APGA. They know that he is a beautiful bride and every political party wants him.
“They have been coming; especially the APGA people, and they are still coming. But the problem is that the ideologies of the APC and APGA are not the same and Ngige will not join APGA despite the pressure, he has made it clear that he cannot be jumping from one party to another.
“Ngige believes wholeheartedly in the APC and will not bow to their pressure. Some of the members of APGA have been coming and they are lamenting that they do not have any fatherly leader in APGA and that is why they want Ngige.
“But I must tell you that they have lost their deposits.”
It is not clear yet whether Ngige will run for a second term as Senator or become a running mate to the APC presidential candidate.
Ibe said: “Ngige is a serving Senator and nothing stops him from going back to the Senate. And even as a Senator nothing stops him from being chosen as a running mate to the presidential candidate.
“So, what we are saying is that all these things are good aspirations and in due time he will make public his ambition. All we know is that these two positions are okay for him.”
