More than 6,000 members of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, have joined the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Enugu State ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The defectors, led by Mr Godwin Obasi, were formally received into the PDP by the party’s state leadership in Enugu on Saturday. Obasi said the new members were drawn from all 260 electoral wards and 17 local government areas across the state.
He attributed their decision to leave the NDC to what he described as the party’s choice of unpopular candidates for various elective positions.
According to him, the group collectively decided to join the PDP and participate in its activities ahead of the 2027 elections.
“We decided that we were going to join the PDP. It is our right and choice,” Obasi said, adding that members from all 260 wards and 17 local government areas had moved into the party.
Receiving the defectors, Enugu State PDP Chairman, Chief Vitus Okechi, described the development as timely. Okechi assured the new members that they would enjoy equal rights within the party and have opportunities to participate in its activities.
The PDP governorship candidate in the state, Chief Uche Nnaji, also assured the defectors of full integration into the party.
Nnaji, however, used the occasion to criticise the Enugu State Government over its policies and alleged failure to fulfil some promises to residents.
He urged residents to participate in what he described as an effort to change the political direction of the state ahead of the 2027 election. According to Nnaji, taxation has become a major policy of the state administration and has imposed additional hardship on residents.
He alleged that taxation had even extended to newborn babies and deceased persons, while questioning the benefits residents were receiving from the state’s revenue drive. The PDP candidate also raised concerns about the payment of pensions and gratuities to retirees in the state.
“Our pensioners are not being paid. Enugu is the only place where pensions and gratuities are not being paid to our people,” he alleged.
Nnaji further claimed that the state had received substantially more funds under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu than previous administrations. He alleged that the current administration had received more money in about three years than the combined funds received by former governors Chimaroke Nnamani, Sullivan Chime and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi during their combined 24 years in office.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has released so much money to all the states. What this government here has received is more than what the three previous governors, Chimaroke, Sullivan and Ugwuanyi put together,” Nnaji said.
He also questioned figures announced by the state government regarding internally generated revenue in 2025, alleging that the revenue collection had placed additional pressure on residents. Nnaji consequently called on residents to support what he described as a collective effort to bring political change to Enugu State.
Meanwhile, PDP chieftain Chief Basil Ani described the defection as a boost to the party’s grassroots mobilisation ahead of the 2027 elections. The development comes as political parties in Enugu State intensify their mobilisation and preparations for the 2027 general elections.
