A former governor of the old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo, on Friday left the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying that ‘all is not well with the country’.
Nwobodo, who had also served as a minister and a senator, noted that his decision was informed by some ‘issues’ he observed in the ruling party.
He expressed concern that APC leaders were already boasting that they had won the election even before the commencement of the polls.
The decision was announced in a statement which he released after meeting with some Igbo leaders in Enugu.
Doubts over the sincerity of the APC to give the Igbo the chance to produce the President in 2023 was among the ‘issues’ that prompted Nwobodo’s decision to leave the party, according to the statement.
Nwobodo, a former member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), joined the APC after President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory in the 2015 elections.
But, announcing his decision to quit the party barely three weeks to the 2019 general elections, Nwobodo explained that he now saw himself as an ‘elder statesman’, rather than a ‘partisan politician’.
The statement read in part, “At this stage of my life, I see myself more as an elder statesman than a partisan politician and I speak from this standpoint.
“I have served our country both at the state and the federal levels. In the course of my political journey from the Second Republic till date, I have had my fair share of ups and downs.
“I made mistakes and learned from my mistakes. I have learned a lot from my experiences and feel qualified to speak on burning issues confronting us as a nation.
“I cannot pretend that all is well in our country today with the escalating crisis, ranging from the economy, insecurity, tension among the three arms of government – executive, legislative and judiciary.”
He also said he was ‘worried’ that APC leaders seemed so certain of electoral victory ahead of the general elections.
“What we are seeing are symptoms of deep rooted issues that should be brought to the table for discussions on how to address them.
“I am a democrat and a strong believer in democracy. Those of us who claim to be democrats have a duty to tell the President the truth and advise him appropriately.
“I have been chief executive of a big state and I appreciate how difficult it could be for the chief executive of a state or a country to know the true situation of things with the people you govern.
“As a member of the APC and a democrat, I got visibly worried when I heard party members boasting and saying ‘we have won the (presidential) election and just waiting for results to be announced’. My question was how? How was the election won when the elections have yet to hold?
“One of the tenets of democracy is the division of power among the different independent arms of government, namely executive, legislative and judiciary.
“The desecration of any of these arms of government portends danger to democracy.
“The ongoing attempts to arraign and prosecute the Chief Justice of the Federation in disregard to due process is a mockery of the judiciary, which is the last hope of the common man.
“It is even more worrisome to read in the papers that the President was not aware of such moves.”
