Politics

I Witnessed Betrayal And Sabotage – Valentine Ozigbo Opens Up On Reason For Dumping LP For APC

Published

6 hours ago

November 4, 2025

Former Anambra State governorship aspirant Valentine Ozigbo has opened up on the reason he left the Labour Party (LP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Speaking via a statement on 𝕏, he explained that his defection was a difficult decision driven by his love for Anambra State.

Ozigbo acknowledged the disappointment, and anger that followed his defection but disclosed he felt betrayed in the LP.

According to him, he was fully committed to the LP at the height of its popularity in Anambra State and enjoyed overwhelming grassroots support within the Obidient movement.

Ozigbo said that independent online polls conducted at the time reflected massive public backing for his candidacy, adding that he polled over 90 per cent of the votes in two separate surveys on preferred governorship and party candidates.

He, however, alleged that internal betrayal and sabotage within the LP leadership derailed his ambition.

He said, “Many people have asked: ‘Val, why did you leave the Labour Party?’ ‘Why APC?’ Some asked with curiosity, some with disappointment, and some with anger. I understand all three. But truth demands context

“I witnessed a level of betrayal and sabotage within the Labour Party top leadership (not the grassroots) unlike anything I had encountered in public life. A deliberate effort was made at the leadership level to stop my candidacy at all costs.”

He claimed that rather than ensuring fairness, the party’s leaders orchestrated a process lacking transparency.

“All I asked for was a transparent process, a level playing field, not a coronation. Yet what unfolded revealed a troubling reality: the very culture we condemned in other parties had taken root there, and in some cases, even deeper,” he said.

The former LP aspirant noted that his departure from the party exposed internal weaknesses that ultimately crippled its structure in the state.

“I could have stayed to continue the fight from within, but I had long realised that in the process of chasing me out, they ended up crippling the party itself, out of selfishness and short-sightedness,” he said.

Explaining his decision to join the APC, Ozigbo said the ruling party was the only viable platform left to challenge the current administration in Anambra.