A member representing Udi-Ezeagu Federal Constituency, Enugu State in the House of Representatives, Hon. Sunday Umeha, recently defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress, from Labour Party. He speaks withAdedayoAkinwale, about what informed his decision. Excerpts:
Since the commencement of the current democratic dispensation, in 1999 and the advent of All Progressives Congress (APC) how will you assess the impact of the party, in the South East, especially under President Bola Tinubu, and what informed you dumping the Labour Party (LP)?
Generally speaking, APC prior to 2023 might not be all that interesting to many. But since the assumption of office of President Bola Tinubu, there have been very far-reaching decisions and policies that this administration has brought in. And those things appear to be the cornerstone upon which many now troop into APC. So, the APC currently under the reign of President Tinubu has done very well by my assessment. I said so because: One, you look at the boldness and courage of the President to have declared the removal of fuel subsidy the very first day he took over as President. Many people in the past concurred with the fact that fuel subsidy was a scam, but no government took any step to deal with it. Secondly, another remarkable achievement is the issue of tax reform. And he did that through the introduction of about four bills in the National Assembly. Those bills have been considered. And if you also look at the security aspect, the security architecture, if you had followed up the last APC National Summit, you would have seen the two years’ account of the performance of this current regime. And one of the key presentations there was made by the National Security Adviser to the President, MallamNuhuRibadu. You look at the security indices of Nigeria prior to 2023 and where we are post-2023. You will see that Nigeria has made a lot of impact in the security sector. I agree with you to some extent that yes, it might not be a bed of roses for us at the moment, but if there is no pain, there may not be any gain.
