The release of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council list came with a surprise as a Peoples Democratic Party Senator, Chimaroke Nnamani, was included as a member of the council meant to help the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, achieve victory at the polls.
Nnamani, who currently represents Enugu East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, featured as the 350th member of the 422-man list released on Friday night by Presidential Campaign Council Secretary, James Faleke,
There is, however, no indication that Senator Nnamani has left the PDP for the APC.
On the National Assembly website, 62-year-old Nnamani is still listed as a member of the PDP. There is also no report indicating that he has defected from the party as recent news reports about him have also referred to him as a PDP member.
The PDP Chairman in Enugu State, Augustine Nnamani, said the development must have been an error on the part of the APC, because the senator remains a strong member of the PDP who has no plans of leaving the party.
When contacted, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, said Tinubu enjoys support beyond the APC and it is not unusual for the “cross-party alignment”.
“The presidential campaign is not necessarily about party membership, it is about your support for the candidate. People who believe in the candidate are very free to work for the candidate that they support.
“Our candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is a candidate that enjoys widespread multi-partisan support. The support for our candidate is not limited to APC members only; he enjoys support from others who know him and who trust in his ability to deliver,” he said.
Although a PDP member, Senator Nnamani had put out tweets in favour of Tinubu. In an August 10 thread on Twitter, he defended Tinubu’s candidacy, saying he had “an impressive track record as a governor”.