The media team of Senator Nkechi Nwaogu has responded to a statement by the Abia State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over her party membership, insisting that the former senator has left the APC and is now the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate for Abia Central Senatorial District.
The response followed a statement by the Abia APC Publicity Secretary, Uche Aguoru, who maintained that Nwaogu remained a bona fide member of the APC despite her emergence as the NDC senatorial candidate for the 2027 election.
In a statement signed by Victor Kelechi Onyendi, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Senator Nwaogu, the senator’s media team dismissed Aguoru’s claim and questioned why the APC was devoting attention to Nwaogu instead of addressing issues within its own political structure.
The Nwaogu camp maintained that the former lawmaker had left the APC and had chosen to pursue her political ambitions under the platform of the NDC.
“Senator Nwaogu has left the APC, and she is not returning,” the statement said, adding that she had “chosen the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), where she is respected, accepted and actively participating in the political process.”
The development has generated a fresh political dispute in Abia ahead of the 2027 general elections, with the two sides presenting conflicting accounts of Nwaogu’s membership status.
Nwaogu, who represented Abia Central Senatorial District in the Senate between 2007 and 2015, previously contested under the Peoples Democratic Party before later joining the APC. She subsequently emerged as the NDC candidate for the same senatorial district in the 2027 election. Reports have also identified her as the NDC’s Abia Central senatorial candidate in published candidate lists.
However, the Abia APC has disputed her departure from the party.
In his statement, Aguoru said Nwaogu purchased the APC Senate nomination form and participated in the party’s senatorial primary election held on May 18, 2026. According to the APC, she scored 12,033 votes and emerged as the runner-up in the primary.
The party also claimed that Nwaogu’s name was contained in its membership register submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on May 10, 2026, and that there was no record of her resignation from the APC.
The APC further argued that Nwaogu’s membership details remained in its database and in the membership records submitted to INEC.
But Nwaogu has rejected that position. According to reports of her response, she said she resigned from the APC in early May and maintained that she had completed the resignation process at her ward level.
The disagreement therefore centres largely on the timing and formal documentation of her departure from the APC, as well as the membership records held by the respective political organisations.
In its response, the Nwaogu media team also challenged the APC to focus attention on its own candidates and political affairs rather than concentrating on the former senator.
The statement alleged that some APC candidates had publicly distanced themselves from the party’s governorship candidate and endorsed another candidate. The Nwaogu camp cited this as an example of what it described as internal cohesion issues within the party.
The allegation, however, remains a claim by the Nwaogu camp and was not independently established in the statement.
The media team argued that the APC should concentrate on presenting its candidates, programmes and policies to the electorate instead of engaging in exchanges with Nwaogu.
It also rejected suggestions that Nwaogu’s political movement should be interpreted as an unresolved relationship with the APC.
The former senator has publicly identified herself with the NDC and has participated in the party’s political activities ahead of the 2027 elections. In August, she was reported to have engaged with NDC executives and members in Isiala Ngwa South as part of her political activities in Abia Central.
The NDC has also listed Nwaogu as its candidate for Abia Central Senatorial District in candidate lists circulated following the publication of the party’s candidates.
The dispute over her membership comes against the background of increasing political activity in Abia as parties prepare for the 2027 elections.
Nwaogu’s supporters have described her as an experienced political figure with a substantial history in national and state politics, while the APC continues to maintain that she remains part of its membership structure.
For the moment, the two sides remain divided over the status of her APC membership. The APC relies on its membership records and the circumstances surrounding her participation in its May 2026 primary, while Nwaogu’s camp maintains that she resigned before joining and contesting under the NDC.
The Nwaogu media team concluded its statement by saying that the senator had moved on from the APC and was concentrating on her political activities in Abia Central.
The statement urged the APC to devote its attention to its candidates, internal affairs and political programmes ahead of the 2027 elections.
It ended with the NDC slogan: “Service to the People.”
