A renowned academic and political analyst, Professor Chinedu Nwankwo, has launched a scathing attack on the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South-East, describing the invitation of Abia State Governor Alex Otti and Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo—both non-APC governors—to a core zonal party meeting as evidence that the party has “lost direction” in the region.
Speaking on Saturday in Enugu, Prof. Nwankwo faulted the South-East APC leadership under the National Vice Chairman (South-East), Hon. Ijeomah Arodiogu, over the decision to invite the two opposition governors as special guests to the Expanded South-East Zonal Stakeholders Meeting scheduled to hold at the Presidential Hotel, Enugu.
According to him, the move was not only embarrassing but also contradictory and damaging to party cohesion.
“This is a core APC affair, not a political carnival,” Prof. Nwankwo said. “Inviting sitting governors who are not members of the APC as special guests of honour to a strategic party meeting exposes a dangerous lack of confidence within the South-East APC leadership. It sends the wrong message—that the party cannot stand on its own strength in the region.”
The Ajali, Anambra State-born scholar, who hails from Arochukwu in Abia State, argued that the decision reflected political desperation rather than strategic leadership, warning that such actions weaken internal discipline and confuse party identity.
Prof. Nwankwo further accused the same South-East APC leadership of undermining its own candidate during the 2025 Anambra governorship election. He alleged that elements within Hon. Arodiogu’s camp worked against Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu, the party’s flagbearer, describing it as a clear case of internal sabotage.
“You cannot betray your own governorship candidate yesterday and seek validation from opposition governors today,” he said. “That is not leadership; it is greed dressed in political convenience.”
He warned that actions of this nature erode trust among party members and demoralise grassroots supporters who have remained loyal to the APC despite political pressure and repeated setbacks in the region.
According to Prof. Nwankwo, the APC has the capacity to grow and dominate the South-East if its leaders demonstrate focus, discipline and loyalty to party ideals.
“APC does not need borrowed legitimacy,” he stressed. “The party wins elections when it mobilises its base, presents credible candidates and works hard—not when it courts opposition governors at internal meetings.”
He also maintained that if Governors Otti or Soludo genuinely support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his Renewed Hope Agenda, there is a clear and honourable path available to them.
“They should decamp openly and officially to the APC,” Prof. Nwankwo said. “Politics is not done through the back door. If they believe in President Tinubu’s agenda, let them join the party formally, not as guests at a meeting meant to strengthen APC’s internal structures.”
Describing the invitation as a “self-inflicted wound,” Prof. Nwankwo cautioned the South-East APC leadership against allowing personal ambition, elite appeasement and short-term optics to override party discipline and ideology.
“This is how parties collapse from within,” he warned. “When leaders abandon ideology for optics, loyalty for convenience and strategy for selfish gains.”
He called on the APC national leadership to urgently review the conduct of its South-East officials and reassert core party values such as loyalty, integrity and internal democracy.
In his closing remarks, Prof. Nwankwo urged APC faithful across the South-East to remain vigilant and committed to rebuilding the party on the foundations of trust, discipline and hard work.
“The APC must not be reduced to a gathering of confused leaders seeking validation from political opponents,” he concluded. “The future of the party in the South-East depends on courage, clarity and principled leadership.”
