The African Democratic Congress, ADC, candidate for Ezza South/Ikwo Federal Constituency in Ebonyi State, Ambassador Ephraim Iyke Nwonu, has dumped the party and defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
Nwonu announced his defection on Saturday in Abuja, saying he had decided to withdraw from the 2027 House of Representatives race and support the re-election bid of President Bola Tinubu and Ebonyi State Governor Francis Nwifuru.
Although his name remains on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, portal as the ADC candidate for the constituency, Nwonu said he had chosen to abandon his ambition in support of Tinubu and Nwifuru.
“I am the official ADC candidate for the Ezza South/Ikwo Federal Constituency on the INEC portal, but I have decided to jettison and sacrifice that ambition because of my unalloyed support for Mr. President and my state governor,” he said.
Nwonu said he would join other APC leaders and supporters in Ebonyi to mobilise support for the president and governor ahead of the 2027 elections.
Explaining his decision, he cited federal road and bridge projects in Ebonyi and neighbouring states, including the Ndibe Beach Bridge, the Enugu-Abakaliki-Ogoja Expressway dualisation and the Onuebonyi-Vanco Junction-Abakaliki-Afikpo road.
He also mentioned the Peat Junction flyover in Onueke and the Obubra-Noyo-Oferekpe interstate road as projects that influenced his decision to support the Tinubu administration.
Nwonu further claimed that Ebonyi had received 23 federal appointments under Tinubu, describing the figure as the highest number of appointments the state had received from a federal administration.
The former ADC candidate said his relationship with Tinubu dates back to 1992 through his late political mentor, Senator Polycarp Nwite, who appointed him secretary of the then Democratic Party of Nigeria, DPN, in Ebonyi State.
On the 2027 presidential election, Nwonu dismissed suggestions that opposition figures, including Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, could pose a major challenge to the APC in the South-East.
His defection adds to the political realignments taking place ahead of the 2027 elections, with candidates and political actors changing platforms and declaring support for different presidential and state-level contenders.
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