The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate for Abia Central Senatorial District, Senator Nkechi Nwaogu, has rejected the claim by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State that she remains a member of the ruling party, insisting that she has left the APC and that the NDC is now her political home.
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The dispute followed a statement by the Abia APC Publicity Secretary, Chief Uche Aguoru, who maintained that Nwaogu remained a bona fide member of the APC and questioned the NDC’s claim that she had validly joined its ranks.
Aguoru said Nwaogu’s name was contained in the APC membership register submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission on May 10, 2026, and claimed there was no record available to the party showing that she had resigned.
“For the sake of emphasis, Senator Nwaogu’s name is contained in the party’s register submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on May 10, being the last day for the submission of party registers to INEC and there is also no record of her resignation from the All Progressives Congress,” Aguoru said.
The APC spokesman also said Nwaogu had purchased the party’s Senate nomination form and, according to the APC’s account, participated in its Abia Central senatorial primary held on May 18.
The party said she polled 12,033 votes and finished as runner-up in the exercise.
Aguoru argued that Nwaogu, as an experienced former lawmaker, would understand the implications of being registered with two political parties simultaneously.
“We are sufficiently aware that Mama APC, Senator Nkechi Nwaogu, having served as a lawmaker, and an experienced one at that, understands the legal implications of double registration,” he said.
The APC further maintained that Nwaogu’s membership and card details remained in its database and, according to the party, in records submitted to INEC.
“At no time did our cherished Mama APC resign her membership of the All Progressives Congress,” Aguoru said.
Nwaogu’s camp, however, rejected the APC’s position.
In a statement, her media team said it was incorrect to describe the former senator as an APC member and urged the party’s leadership in Abia State to focus on its own internal political issues.
“Before the APC begins dragging Senator Nwaogu, perhaps, it should first address the conduct of some of its candidates who have publicly distanced themselves from the party’s governorship candidate and endorsed another candidate,” the statement said.
The media team questioned whether the APC itself was facing problems of party cohesion before insisting that Nwaogu had definitively left the party.
“Senator Nwaogu has left the APC, and she is not returning,” the statement said.
“She has chosen the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), where she is respected, accepted, and actively participating in the political process.”
Nwaogu has separately maintained that she resigned from the APC in early May, saying her resignation was made at her ward level.
“I don’t belong to APC. I left them a long time ago, in early May,” she said in an earlier response to the dispute.
Asked whether she formally resigned, Nwaogu said she did so at ward level, arguing that party resignation is handled through that structure.
She also disputed the APC’s assertion that she participated in its May 18 senatorial primary.
According to Nwaogu, although she had previously completed the APC nomination process, she did not participate in the primary itself.
“When they did their primary, did they see me? I filled their form, did everything. I saw the handwriting just before the primary and I didn’t participate,” she said.
Her position is consistent with an earlier report in May in which she confirmed that she had resigned from the APC and joined the NDC following disagreements over the APC primaries in Abia State.
The latest dispute therefore centres on competing claims over whether Nwaogu’s departure from the APC was formally effected before the relevant party-registration deadlines and whether her name remained in the APC register submitted to INEC.
While the APC insists its records still identify her as a member, Nwaogu and the NDC maintain that she left the party before joining the NDC and subsequently became the NDC candidate for Abia Central.
Nwaogu’s media team said she had moved on politically and remained focused on her Abia Central senatorial campaign.
“The NDC is her political home,” the team said, adding that she remained committed to the people she seeks to represent.
The competing membership claims could assume legal significance in the context of the 2027 elections, particularly because the Electoral Act 2026 places emphasis on party membership registers submitted ahead of primaries.
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