Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State bidding the PDP bye
Governor Mbah’s Exit Will Marks End of PDP in Southeast – Says Okechukwu
Enugu (Core Reporters) Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State is reportedly leaving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to join the All Progressives Congress (APC). Osita Okechukwu, a founding member of the APC, believes this move signifies the end of PDP’s dominance in the Southeast region. According to Okechukwu, Mbah’s decision is “pragmatic, rational, and inevitable” due to the PDP’s alleged neglect and marginalization of the Southeast.
Okechukwu made this known on Sunday during a chat with jpurnalists, recalling the timeless lamentation of the late Rt. Hon. Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, who once warned that the PDP “pays good deeds with bad coins.” Okechukwu argued that Governor Mbah’s exit vindicates that lamentation, adding that Okadigbo’s experience — from the 1999 Jos presidential primary where the former Vice President and PDP co-founder was sabotaged, to the 2003 election where Ndigbo naively ignored the Buhari/Okadigbo ticket — remains a historic lesson.
He said, “The PDP’s decline in the region is evident, with the party controlling all five Southeastern states in 1999 but having zero governors in 2025.
Continuing, Okechukwu criticized the PDP’s “utter disregard” for equity and justice, especially in 2023, when the party breached the Fourth Republic’s long-standing zoning convention. He recalled that at the Port Harcourt presidential primary, no southern aspirant participated, despite repeated appeals for fairness and rotation.
“The last straw that broke the PDP’s camel’s back,” Okechukwu noted, “was the deliberate marginalization of the Southeast during the controversy over the National Secretary position.”
He cited the communiqué issued by the PDP South East Zonal Executive Committee (ZEC) after its meeting at Government House, Enugu, on May 14, 2023, which warned:
“In the event that the Southeast’s position that Sunday Udeh-Okoye should replace Senator Samuel Anyanwu, who left to contest the Imo governorship election, is not implemented promptly, the Southeast PDP, as a family, will be compelled to reconsider our relationship with the PDP going forward.”
Okechukwu also referenced remarks by former Senate President and PDP Board of Trustees Chairman, Senator Adolphus Wabara, who “decried the continued trampling of the Southeast PDP despite the region’s unwavering loyalty to the party since 1998.”
Meanwhile, Mbah’s defection is expected to be formalized soon, with some sources indicating he will officially join the APC on October 14, 2025. The APC has welcomed Mbah, with Osita Okechukwu urging him to disregard any perceived obstacles and join the party.