Sunday Umeha, a member of the house of representatives, has dumped the Labour Party (LP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Umeha, who represents Udi/Ezeagu federal constituency in Enugu state, announced his defection on Saturday during a rally at Ibagwa-Aka in Igboeze South LGA.

The lawmaker said he had already registered with the APC in his ward, citing unresolved crises within the Labour Party at the state and national levels.

“I have resigned from the Labour Party and registered with APC. There’s a lot of division in LP both at the national and state levels, and that’s one of the reasons I left,” Umeha said.

“My decision to join APC is also because of the need to connect to the centre and bring our people closer because there are a lot of advantages in plugging into the centre.”

He added that another rally to formally welcome him into the APC in Ezeagu, his local government area, would be held in the coming days.

Umeha, who claimed to be the first elected official of the APC in Enugu since its formation in 2014, said the ruling party had delivered better dividends to the south-east zone than the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“Look at the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, 2nd Niger Bridge, and other landmark projects. It is the APC that has brought those developments to Igboland,” he said.

At the rally, Joshua Ogbonna, a businessman and prominent LP member in Igboeze South, also defected to the APC alongside over 1,000 LP members, including the local government and ward executives.

Ugochukwu Agballah, Enugu APC chairman, said the influx of defectors signals a new chapter for the ruling party ahead of the 2027 general election.

Agballah said the APC is determined to unseat the PDP administration in the state, accusing the ruling party of inflicting “tears, anguish and sorrow” on Enugu residents for 26 years.

He claimed that the PDP governments had imposed high taxes, demolished citizens’ means of livelihood, and grabbed lands, all in the name of building motor parks.

“This is a total collapse of LP’s structure in Igboeze South. Today, I hand over to you the symbol of our party — our flag — and the broom, which is an insignia of our party,” he said.

“With this broom, we are going to sweep in good governance in Enugu state.

“With this broom, we are going to sweep away the reactionary forces that have held our people hostage for 26 years. With this broom, we are going to bring back democracy in Enugu state.

“I want to say it here, and I want to say it loud and clear to all doubting Thomases, that APC Enugu state is poised to take over the government of Enugu come 2027.”