The Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, senatorial candidate for Abia Central, Sen. Nkechi Nwaogu, has denied being a member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, amid a dispute between the two parties over her membership and candidacy for the 2027 election.
The APC in Abia State insists that Nwaogu remains a bona fide member of the party, while the NDC says she joined its ranks before the deadline for the submission of party membership registers to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Nwaogu, who represented Abia Central Senatorial District from 2007 to 2015 under the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, before later joining the APC, also said she resigned from the APC in early May.
She spoke on Saturday as the APC and NDC traded words over her membership of the two parties.
The NDC, in a statement issued on Friday by its Publicity Secretary, Emeka Luis Okoro, titled “Official Clarification: Candidacy Of Abia Central Senatorial Zone Remains Intact,” said Nwaogu’s candidacy remained valid.
The party stated categorically that “the candidacy of our flag bearer for Abia Central Senatorial Zone, Sen. Nkechi Nwaogu, remains intact and unshaken.”
According to the NDC, “she became a bona fide member of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Abia State Chapter, before the May 10th deadline, set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the final deadline for political parties to submit their digital membership registers for the 2027 general elections.
“She never contested or participated in the APC Senatorial Primary Election of 2026 conducted in Abia State”, and urged its members to “disregard any false information in circulation by enemies of the party regarding her candidacy. She remains on the ballot”.
The party urged its members to give Nwaogu “full and unflinching support” towards the victory of the party in the January 2027 general election.
However, the APC in Abia, in a statement issued on Saturday by its Publicity Secretary, Uche Aguoru, rejected the NDC’s position and insisted that Nwaogu remained a member of the party.
Aguoru said the attention of the APC had been drawn to the NDC statement “claiming that our own Mama APC, Distinguished Senator Nkechi Justina Nwaogu, is a member of their party, the NDC”.
According to the statement, “for the purposes of clarity and to put the records straight, Senator Nkechi Nwaogu remains a bonafide member of the All Progressives Congress (APC)”.
The APC said Nwaogu purchased its Senate nomination form and participated in its senatorial primary held on May 18, 2026.
The party said, “Senator Nwaogu purchased the APC Senate nomination form and participated in the APC Senatorial Primary Election held on the 18th day of May 2026. She scored 12,033 votes to emerge as the runner-up in that election conducted by the APC, with Hon. Erasmus Cishark serving as the Returning Officer and Chairman of the APC Senatorial Primary Election Committee.
“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 the 10th of May 2026, 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.
“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. We therefore have no reason to believe that she would consciously subject herself to such a situation.
“It is important to state categorically that all her registration details, including her membership card details, remain in our party’s database and in the database of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as a member of the All Progressives Congress. let us repeat for the second time that at no time did our cherished Mama APC resign her membership of the All Progressives Congress”.
The APC, therefore, called on the NDC to “desist from circulating information that is misleading and inconsistent with the records available to the relevant authorities and to refrain from creating unnecessary confusion among members of the public where the facts are clear and verifiable”.
“The membership records of distinguished Senator Nwaogu is documented and her participation and financial records are verifiable”, the party further said.
However, when contacted, Nwaogu rejected the APC’s claim, saying, “I don’t belong to APC. I left them a long time ago, in early May. Don’t mind them”.
Asked if she properly resigned from the APC, she said, “I did. These people are disorganised, disgruntled. You resign at your ward level, not at the state level. And that was what I did. Don’t mind them. They are disgruntled. They know that I am the one to beat. That is why they are claiming me”.
She further stated, “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”.
PUNCH had reported in May that Nwaogu resigned from the APC and joined the NDC.
Meanwhile, in INEC’s final published list for senate, Nwaogu is listed as the NDC candidate, while Atuma Emeka is listed for APC.
