Peter Mbah’s defection shocked me but the PDP will still stand – Bode George
Veteran PDP leader and BoT member, Chief Bode George, has expressed surprise over the defection of Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking on Politics Today on Tuesday, George said he had no prior hint of Mbah’s move despite ongoing reconciliation efforts within the PDP’s South-East bloc. “I never saw it at any time. Now that we have settled issues and fixed the convention date, whatever position the East wanted to give him would have been his. So, what’s the essence of leaving now?” he asked.
George disclosed that PDP elders had appealed to Mbah to remain in the party but said the reasons he gave “felt like a long dream.” Despite the shock, he wished the governor well, maintaining that “the PDP is like an iroko tree, it will stand.”
He dismissed fears that defections would weaken the opposition, saying, “Governors don’t make the party; the people do. We’ll go to the field and tell Nigerians what the APC has done or failed to do.”
When asked if he could ever leave the PDP, George replied, “That is absolutely impossible. The party may face turbulence, but it is absolutely redeemable.”
Earlier, Mbah announced his defection to the APC in a statewide broadcast, saying it was to align with President Bola Tinubu’s administration for greater development in Enugu. He was received into the party by Vice President Kashim Shettima and Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
With his defection, the APC now controls three of the five South-East states, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo, while Abia remains under Labour Party and Anambra under APGA.
