Governor Hope Uzodinma’s former Commissioner for Foreign Investment, Dr Fabian Ilekweme and former Chief of Staff, Imo State government House, Uche Nwosu’s lawyer, Pascal Onwukaike has dumped the All Progressive Congress APC for the PDP.
Their defection was done during the grand reception organized in honour of the PDP national Secretary, Senator Samdaddy Anyanwu in Owerri ,yesterday.
Ihekweme who was among the first batch of commissioners sacked and not recalled like some of his colleagues, while Pascal Onwukaike was two time T.C. Chairman of Nkwerre LGA, a confidant and benefactor of former Governor Rochas Okorocha.
He was also Uche Nowsu’s lawyer in the controversial bailout fund case instituted by his boss Uche Nwosu against Community Watchdog Newspaper that blew the lid of the allegedly stolen and misappropriated fund released by the federal government for the payment of accumulated arrears of salaries and pensions of civil servants and retirees in the state.
It was also gathered that Onwukaike had for sometime been making efforts to penetrate the Uzodinma caucus to no avail hence he decided to abandon his benefactors, Rochas Okorocha, his son-in-law Uche Nwosu to join the PDP to enable him sustain his political structure and remain afloat.
Ihekweme on his part is said to have dumped the APC because he feels that his efforts and commitment to the emergence of the present administration was not appreciated, as attested to by his sack.
Some political pundits who commented on the development expressed concern about what they referred to “as the dwindling fortunes of the Hope Uzodinma administration despite high level propaganda and rhetorics.”
Aside the duo of Ihekwueme and Pascal Onwukaike, they were other APC members who defected to PDP yesterday.They include; Barr Charles Ezekwem, former Imo PDP chairman, Hon Frank Onwumere, others.
