By Samson Ezea

After months of political meetings, alignments, rumours, permutations, realignments, speculations, tension, uncertainty, expectations, and anxiety over what would become of the APC in Enugu ahead of the 2027 elections, the much-anticipated day finally arrived — and passed — on Tuesday, October 12, 2025.

It was an epoch-making day. The long-awaited and much-sought-after “beautiful bride,” Enugu State Governor, Barr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, finally connected the Coal City back to the centre — years after the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost power at the national level in 2015 due to political miscalculations, dishonesty, negligence, arrogance, marginalization, and pride.

This political movement was not unexpected to many, particularly political watchers and observers. The reason lies in the way the national leadership of the PDP managed the affairs of the party, especially concerning the Southeast region before and after the 2023 elections — the same elections that produced Governor Mbah as the only PDP governor in the zone.

When repeated requests, pressures, appeals, warnings, and alarms from Governor Mbah and other PDP leaders from the Southeast for the national leadership of the PDP to act fell on deaf ears, and as the intractable crisis rocking the party since the 2023 presidential primaries remained unresolved, the APC seized the opportunity.

Sensing this opening, the ruling APC began wooing Governor Mbah, having recognized in him — and his style of governance and developmental strides — a valuable and irresistible political asset ahead of the 2027 general elections.

As I had predicted in my previous published series titled “2027: Why Governor Mbah Remains the Most Beautiful Bride,” I had categorically and emphatically analyzed the expected political realignments, tsunamis, and dislocations within the Enugu State APC ahead of the 2027 general elections. I also noted how those who arrogantly believed they could serve as stumbling blocks to Governor Mbah’s movement to the APC would not only be displaced but also humbled and politically crushed.

This has happened exactly as foretold, because those political elements in the Enugu APC lacked the political sagacity to grasp the simple arithmetic of Nigerian politics. They refused to learn from political history and precedents — a point also highlighted by Vice President Alhaji Kashim Shettima during his speech while receiving Governor Mbah, his supporters, and the people of Enugu State into the APC at Okpara Square, Enugu.

Considering the current political configurations and permutations ahead of the 2027 general elections, Governor Mbah’s movement to the APC is both timely and advantageous — not only for Enugu State but also for the entire Southeast region, which Enugu represents, and for the country’s overall political stability and peaceful coexistence.

Governor Mbah emphasized this in his defection speech, where he addressed the misgivings and fears of skeptics regarding the state’s move to the APC ahead of 2027.

The presence and support of two former governors of the state — Barr. Sullivan Chime and Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi — along with major political leaders, youth organizations, traditional rulers, religious leaders, women’s groups, a mammoth crowd of supporters, and the good people of Enugu State, demonstrated that Governor Mbah’s movement to the APC was well-received and widely accepted.

By all standards, the event was a carnival of sorts — with virtually no one missing in action. It was also an affirmation of the tremendous and overwhelming support that Governor Mbah’s administration continues to enjoy across the state ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Besides, a political party is merely a special-purpose vehicle that can be changed when it no longer functions effectively, and when all efforts to repair it have failed. Were it not constitutionally required to contest elections under a political party platform, Governor Mbah would need no party to win a second term — his outstanding performance alone could secure that victory.

That is why, since Governor Mbah reconnected Enugu State to the centre of power and mainstream politics, the people of the state have been happy, and everywhere has remained calm.

This deft political masterstroke by Governor Mbah has positioned Enugu State — and by extension, the entire Southeast region — in a strategic and enviable place within the politics and governance of Nigeria ahead of, during, and after the 2027 general elections.