Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has been rocked by a string of high-profile resignations in Enugu State, with departing members accusing the party of marginalising long-standing stakeholders in favour of recent entrants.
Among those who have quit are the party’s 2023 senatorial candidate for Enugu North, Ejike Eze; the immediate past state publicity secretary, Charles Ako; and a former local government chairman, Simon Attah.
The exits, confirmed by party sources on Wednesday, have fuelled speculation of further defections, with some aggrieved members said to be weighing a move to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the coming days.
Eze, speaking in an interview, said his decision was driven by what he described as the erosion of internal democracy and the systematic exclusion of members of the party’s “old bloc” following the influx of new political actors.
He said he personally financed his 2023 senatorial campaign without support from the party and had since been overlooked for any political appointment. “It is abnormal and unjust that the party refused to support me financially or recognise my efforts,” he said.
Eze added that he had previously appealed to the Enugu State governor, Peter Mbah, to integrate members of the APC’s earlier structure into governance as a way of fostering unity, but said the effort yielded no response.
Ako, in a resignation letter, echoed similar concerns, alleging that long-standing members had effectively been displaced within the party.
“It is unfortunate that the new occupiers have internally displaced most of its old members and rendered us ‘prisoners of conscience’ in the party we laboured for,” he said, adding that the party’s direction no longer reflected his political values.
Attah, who also stepped down from the party, said his decision followed “deep reflection and consultations”, citing a lack of inclusiveness and the marginalisation of key stakeholders.
The wave of resignations underscores widening fissures within the APC in Enugu, where tensions between established members and newer entrants have intensified in recent months.
Efforts to reach the state party leadership, headed by Martin Chukwunwike, were unsuccessful. He did not respond to requests for comment.
The developments add to a broader pattern of internal strain across party structures in several states, raising fresh questions about cohesion within the APC as political alignments begin to shift ahead of the next electoral cycle.
