Former Speaker of Abia House of Assembly, Mr Chinedum Orji, has offered reasons he dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking in an interactive session with newsmen in Umuahia on Wednesday, Orji said that he did not join APC to fight for position but to add value to the party.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the son of the former Abia Governor, Sen. Theodore Orji, joined APC on Monday, having bid farewell to PDP, which provided the platform for his election to the House in 2019.
Orji, who said he had been a member of PDP since 1999, further disclosed that he decided to leave the party when the ideals for which it was known in the state became eroded.
He said: “I’m not used to moving from one party to another, but my action is something I had thought about and decided that it is the best way forward for me.
“Personally, I’m not interested in contesting those positions you people feel that I want to contest by coming to APC.
“APC is a party in the state that has leadership and structure – there are people that are already there.
“When you come in, you queue up through the party structure and play your role as a party person.
“I’m not in APC to struggle for any position or to start fighting anybody, rather I’m in APC to respect the constituted authority.”
Orji confirmed that he had done his registration as a party member at the ward and already formalised it with the state chairman.
He described himself as a grassroots politician, saying, “after my declaration, I will go underground to do what I know how best to do.”
He lauded President Bola Tinubu for his economic policies, saying that the president had exhibited great characteristics in leading the country.
Orji, who was a PDP candidate for the House of Representatives in 2023, contended that the Igbo must negotiate with other regions in the country to clinch power at the centre.
“There is no way we can be President of Nigeria without negotiating either with the North or West.
“Our votes alone in the South-East cannot get us the President – it’s a simple matter,” he said. (NAN)