Dr. Chimaobi Desmond Anyaso, the 2023 deputy governorship candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) in Abia State, has resigned from the party barely two months after openly endorsing Governor Alex Otti of the Labour Party and calling for his re-election in 2027.
In a letter dated June 19 and addressed to the YPP Ward Chairman in Igbere Ward A, Bende Local Government Area, Anyaso stated that his resignation takes immediate effect.
“This decision did not come lightly, especially considering the time, the work and resources I have personally invested into the party and the support, encouragement, and platform the party has provided me.
“I remain deeply grateful for the opportunity to have contested as the Deputy Governorship Candidate of our great party in the 2023 general elections.
“It was an honor to represent the ideals of YPP and to engage with the people of Abia State under its banner,” he wrote.
Anyaso, a businessman and philanthropist, acknowledged the YPP’s role in galvanizing youth participation in Abia politics, saying the party “inspired a generation of young people to believe that true power rests with the people.”
The move comes on the heels of his public support for Governor Otti, which he declared in April during a media interaction in his Igbere country home. At the time, he described Otti’s administration as “sterling” and asserted that Abians now wear their identity with pride due to infrastructural strides and anti-corruption efforts.
“Those who have the opportunity to be Abia State governor without making a meaningful impact were elected to complete their tenure, let alone a governor who is doing excellently well,” he had said, predicting Otti’s re-election in 2027.
Meanwhile, Anyaso’s resignation has further deepens the cracks within the YPP in Abia, as more high-profile members shift their allegiance to the Labour Party-led government.
Earlier this year, Hon. Ibe Michael Nwoke, YPP’s 2023 House of Representatives candidate for Obingwa/Osisioma/Ugwunagbo federal constituency, also resigned and collapsed his political structure known as the ‘Eziahakaego Movement’ to support Governor Otti.
Nwoke, a former ALGON chairman, cited wide consultations and admiration for Otti’s leadership as reasons for his defection.
“It is with due sense of honour and statesmanship that I write to formally announce my resignation from the Young Progressive Party, YPP,” he wrote, urging his supporters to rally behind Otti’s second-term bid.
Similarly, YPP’s 2023 Governorship candidate, Engr. Enyinnaya Nwafor, publicly declared support for Governor Otti in April. Nwafor hailed Otti’s administration as “visionary and transformational” at a NULGE event in Umuahia.
In May 2024, the YPP expelled two of its members in the Abia State House of Assembly, Hon. Ahuama Fyne Onyekachi (Osisioma South) and Hon. Iheanacho Nwogu (Osisioma North), over their support for Governor Otti. Party executives at the ward, local government, and national levels accused them of “unrepentant” endorsement of the Labour Party-led government.