By Francis Igata

ENUGU—Former Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu has dumped the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Chukwu registered as a member of APC at his Ugwuegu Ward in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State last Friday in the presence of scores of his supporters and APC members and officials.

The former minister who achieved global acclaim following his effective handling of the Ebola outbreak  in Nigeria in 2014 might have left the PDP in protest against the shabby treatment he allegedly received from the party as a governorship aspirant in 2014.

However, at press time, the  professor of surgery could not be reached for confirmation. His former Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Dan Nwomeh however said he was aware of the development.

Chukwu’s defection to the APC, an opposition party in Ebonyi State, was expected to generate a major transformation of the political landscape in Ebonyi State as several of his supporters and loyalists, key politicians in their own right, were expected to join him in the APC.

It was gathered that Chukwu’s defection was with the full knowledge and encouragement of top APC leaders at the national and state levels.

It would be recalled that Chukwu was a prominent member of the Ken Nnamani-led pressure group that unsuccessfully tried to engineer a revamp of the PDP following the defeat of the party at the last presidential election and the loss of several key governorship and legislative seats in the other elections. Senator Ken Nnamani himself, a couple of weeks ago, resigned from the PDP, stating that he was ‘stepping aside’ from active partisan politics for the time being.