Ex-Abia Gov, Sen. Orji, Quits PDP

Former Governor of Abia State, Senator Theodore Orji, has announced his resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

This was contained in a letter by the former governor to the PDP chairman in his Umuahia Ward 1 and made available to the media on Saturday.

Senator Orji, who represented Abia Central at the eighth and ninth Senate, won the Abia governorship election in 2007 on the platform of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) but later dumped the party for the PDP in 2011 after a protracted rift with his predecessor, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu.

Senator Orji won his second term in office on the platform of the PDP and later went to the Senate in 2015, still on the ticket of the PDP, for eight years.

At the outset of the defections that hit the PDP in 2024, Orji’s son and former Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Chinedum Orji, left for the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Orji’s wife had also dumped the PDP earlier.

The ex-governor’s letter read in part, “I write to formally tender my resignation from membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) effective immediately.

“This decision has been taken after wide consultations with family and associates.

“I appreciate the opportunities and experiences gained during my time as a member of the party.

“Please accept this letter as a formal notice of my withdrawal from the party.”