Ambassador Ephraim Iyke Nwonu, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate for the Ezza South/Ikwo Federal Constituency in Ebonyi State, has withdrawn from the race and defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in support of President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.
Nwonu, a former supporter of ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, made the announcement on Saturday in Abuja.
Although his name remains listed as the ADC candidate on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) portal, he said he was abandoning the contest.
“I am the official ADC candidate for the Ezza South/Ikwo Federal Constituency on the INEC portal, but I have decided to jettison and sacrifice that ambition because of my unalloyed support for Mr. President and my state governor,” he stated.
He added that he would join other APC stakeholders in Ebonyi to work for the re-election of Tinubu and Governor Francis Nwifuru.
Nwonu traced his connection to Tinubu to a longstanding relationship dating back to 1992, when the President and his late mentor, Senator Polycarp Nwite, served together in the Senate.
He said Nwite had appointed him secretary of the defunct Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN) in Ebonyi State.He cited federal infrastructure projects in Ebonyi and neighbouring states as a major reason for his switch.
These include the Ndibe Beach Bridge linking Afikpo North to Itigidi in Cross River State, a 125.5-kilometre corridor spanning Cross River, Ebonyi, Benue, Nasarawa and Abuja, the dualisation of the Enugu-Abakaliki-Ogoja Expressway, the Onuebonyi–Vanco Junction to Abakaliki–Afikpo road, a new flyover at Peat Junction in Onueke, and the Obubra-Noyo-Oferekpe interstate road.
Nwonu also noted that Ebonyi indigenes had received 23 federal appointments under the Tinubu administration, the highest number the state had ever secured arguing that such gains left little room for opposition success in the Southeast in 2027.
On the candidacy of Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), he dismissed any threat:
“There is no threat whatsoever. Anyone on the ballot is free to try their luck, but Peter Obi’s ambition poses no threat to Mr President in the Southeast, especially considering what this administration has delivered to Ebonyi State. President Tinubu will win comfortably.”
He referenced a survey conducted by his non-governmental organisation in partnership with the Ebonyi State Ministry of Information, which he said showed that a majority of residents now recognise the administration’s achievements and are prepared to reward them with votes.