Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the immediate past Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, Dr. Ben Nwoye, has unveiled a new political platform named The Progressives Group as part of efforts to maintain and consolidate his structure within the state.
Our correspondent who covered the official public launch of the group in Nsukka reports that its membership is drawn from various registered political parties, including the APC, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State, the Social Democratic Party (SDP), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Labour Party (LP), and others.
Speaking with journalists shortly after the launch, Nwoye—who recently resigned from the APC—stated:
“Our goal is to support and promote good governance, particularly in Enugu State.”
He explained that since his exit from the APC, he has received numerous calls from both his former followers and disenchanted members of other political parties urging him to offer them a new political direction.
“Since I left the APC, I have been receiving calls not just only from my followers when I was in the party, but from other aggrieved members of various political parties who followed my style of politics, and want me to lead them to a new political home,” he said.
“And because I have not resigned from active political activity, but only resigned from the APC due to the manner with which the party was being run in Enugu State, I had to listen to those clarion calls, and that is why we are here today to formally launch what we call ‘The Progressives Group.’”
Nwoye emphasized that the movement was created in the interest of promoting good governance and began in the Enugu North Senatorial District because of its political legacy.
“We started the movement here in Enugu North Senatorial District primarily because of the progressive nature of Enugu North politics and politicians.”
He further recalled the historical significance of the region, noting:
“We decided to begin the political journey from Nsukka because it was Enugu North that gave the APC the impetus to operate in the state when the party started.”
“The zone as at then paraded APC chieftains such as Barrister Okey Ezea, now a serving Senator under the Labour Party platform, late Senator Ayogu Eze, amongst others.”
He reiterated that the group’s mission is to pursue a progressive agenda and work with any administration that prioritizes the development of Enugu State.
“We are only interested in pursuing a progressive agenda. We will support any government that is progressive in nature and benefits our people—a government that will drive the development of Enugu State.”
According to him, the Progressives Group already has representation across all the 105 political wards in Enugu North and the six local government areas in the zone.
“We have the leadership of the Progressives in all the 105 political wards in Enugu North Senatorial District and the six Council areas of the zone, with Dr. Mrs. Oby Ajih, the 2023 APC House of Representatives Candidate for Udenu/Igboeze North federal constituency and Chief Obodoeze Ocho as conveners, while Hon. Tony Ibekwe is convener for Enugu West zone.”
Nwoye added:
“So, with this development, we have given political home to all those that were before now homeless politically across the three political zones of Enugu State. You can see for yourselves the large turnout, even when the invitation was restricted to two persons per political ward.”
The political gathering, held at Ugwuoye in the heart of the University town of Nsukka, drew politicians from across party lines.
“Like I mentioned earlier, our goal is to galvanize our people because the people we organized have been scattered by the oppressive leadership of APC in Enugu State. We don’t want them to go without a political home.”
“Now, they have a political home. With this political home that we have established, we will now move on to Enugu West Senatorial Zone and then to Enugu East Senatorial Zone.”
He revealed that the meeting had to be moved twice to manage crowd control:
“This meeting was restricted; otherwise, here would have been filled with people. We had to practically move the venue twice to avoid gate crashers. Many people have been homeless politically since after my eight years of political journey in APC. So we want to give them home.”
Nwoye did not hold back his criticism of the current APC leadership in the state.
“It is quite unfortunate that the new APC Chairman in Enugu State has spent more time suspending and expelling his members instead of winning new ones into their fold.”
He concluded:
“As I said, what we have done is to practically bring everybody back—everyone who has been disenchanted in APC, whether you have been expelled, suspended or whatever—they are welcomed to this group.”
“Our goal is to support good governance, ensure that good governance thrives in Enugu State. Once we can get good governance in Enugu State, it will be good for our people.”
“We will not form a parallel government. We are not interested. What we are interested in is pursuing a progressive agenda where we support any government that is progressive in nature, that is benefiting our people, driving the development of Enugu State.”
On the question of which political party the group might eventually align with, Nwoye said:
“For now, we are still studying the political space. At the appropriate time, we will make a public pronouncement on that.”
