Governor Mbah’s exit will mark the end of PDP in the South East – says Okechukwu

Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State hails the PDP

Governor Mbah’s exit will mark the end of PDP in the South East – says Okechukwu

Enugu Governor (Core Reporters) 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 spells the end of PDP dominance in the South East region. According to Okechukwu, Mbah’s decision is “pragmatic, rational and inevitable” due to the alleged neglect and marginalization of the South East by the PDP.

Okechukwu made this known during a chat with jpurnalists on Sunday, recalling the timeless lament of the late Rt Hon Dr Chuba Okadigbo, who once warned that the PDP “pays for good deeds with bad coins”. Okechukwu argued that Governor Mbah’s exit confirms such lament, adding that Okadigbo’s experience – from the 1999 Jos presidential primaries in which the former vice president and PDP co-founder was sabotaged, to the 2003 elections in which Ndigbo naively ignored the Buhari/Okadigbo ticket – remains a historical lesson.

He said: “The decline of the PDP in the region is evident, with the party controlling all five south-eastern states in 1999 but having zero governors as of 2025.

Continuing, Okechukwu criticized the PDP’s “utter disregard” for equity and justice, especially in 2023 when the party violated the long-standing zoning convention of the Fourth Republic. He recalled that no southern aspirant participated in the Port Harcourt presidential primaries despite repeated calls for fairness and rotation.

“The last straw that broke the PDP’s back,” Okechukwu noted, “was the deliberate marginalization of the South East during the controversy over the position of the national secretary.”

He cited the communiqué issued by the South East Zonal Executive Committee (ZEC) of the PDP after its meeting at Government House, Enugu, on May 14, 2023, which warned:

“In the event that the South East’s position that Udeh-Okoye should replace Senator Samuel Anyanwu on Sunday, who left to contest the Imo governorship election, is not implemented timely, the South East PDP, as a family, will be forced to reconsider our relationship with the PDP in the future.”

Okechukwu also referred to the remarks of former Senate President and Chairman of the PDP Board of Governors, Senator Adolphus Wabara, who “decried the PDP’s continued trampling of the South East 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 that he will officially join the APC on October 14, 2025. The APC has welcomed Mbah, with Osita Okechukwu urging him to ignore any perceived obstacles and join the party.